A Tool in God’s Hands

On Sunday, October 30, 2022, I had the honor of participating in a deacon ordination service for Pandora Baptist Fellowship. For those of you that don’t know, Pandora Baptist is a church that First Baptist Church Stockdale planted several years ago, just outside of Stockdale. Therefore, some items have been passed on from First Baptist to Pandora over the years, including hymnals, Bibles, and a pulpit.

The pulpit that now sits front and center at Pandora used to sit on the stage at First Baptist Stockdale, many years ago. In fact, this is the pulpit that my father used to stand behind when he was the pastor of First Baptist Stockdale back in the 80s. Sitting out in the congregation during the ordination service watching Pastor Dominick Lopez and Larry Childress stand behind that pulpit to speak God’s Word and to offer a charge to the deacon candidates brought back memories from my childhood, sitting in First Baptist watching my dad deliver messages from God’s Word. Here we are over 30 years later, and that pulpit is still being used to preach God’s Word.

As I think about that pulpit, although it has special memories for me, the wood in and of itself is not special. It simply has been taken, shaped, and stained. That wood could have been used to build a bench, a table, or a house. But what sets this block of wood apart from other pieces of wood is how this wood has been used through the years. This wood is special… this pulpit is special because through the decades it has been used as a tool in God’s hands.

As I look at my own life, my desire is to be like that pulpit. I simply want to be a tool in God’s hands that he might use me for His glory all the days of my life.

“Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable. So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:20-21