The Carpenter
What if I said that there is a purpose or reason for where you are at? That there is something to be learned from the position you are in. For those in the workforce, what if instead of seeing our jobs as a means to an end or a stepping stone on the ladder to worldly success, we viewed our jobs through the scope of the calling that God has placed on our lives?
Jesus worked as a carpenter for much of His life under the guidance of His earthly father Joseph. Assuming by “carpenter” we mean woodworker, Jesus was in the business of transforming living trees into tools or structures for a purposed application. Can a stump become a chair? Yes, but would it be recognized as such if not properly molded? Jesus was already in the business of transforming lives before the onset of His ministry. Just as He said to Peter the fisherman, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” [Matthew 4:19]. Jesus molds our lives when we surrender them to Him to be what He wants us to be.
In Acts, we see Peter fulfilling a portion of his calling in giving the sermon that led to the salvation of 3000 people [Acts 2:41].
Isaiah 44:13 illustrates a craftsman at work:
“The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.”
This verse reminds us that God is the ultimate craftsman of our lives, He is not careless in using improper tools to shape and mold us. In the teaching, Jesus presents that He is the foundation upon which our lives are to be built, when we follow His teachings by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we become the wise who builds the house upon the rock. In contrast, building upon the foundation of sand, represents the worldly pursuits, leading to destruction.
As the ultimate transformer, Jesus not only molds us but also supports and protects us. We depend on the structures the Holy Spirit builds in our lives through His teachings to withstand the storms that come.
The position that God has us in now is to develop us in the areas that would best serve His kingdom. To focus on the worldly results of such a role, is to miss the very purpose that you are there to begin with. Life is a journey and the most meaningful points are the lessons that change us along the way drawing us closer to God.
We follow Jesus in eagerness to learn and be guided through the trials in life, knowing that these challenges shape and prepare us for eternity. We may fail over and over again in our trials, but proceeding through the trials is what molds us as believers. Even in His crucifixion, Jesus’ connection to wood is significant. Nailed to the cross, a structure built out of wood -once a living tree- intended for death, He bore the sins of the world. In that moment, Jesus transformed the cross - a symbol of death- into a symbol of life reborn.
Just as He transformed the cross, He can transform and redeem every part of our lives, even the mundane and difficult ones. When we we view our jobs and struggles though the lens of God’s calling, every task becomes a part of the work He is doing in us, shaping us into the people we are meant to be.