A manufacturer or distributer?

I'm always in two minds whenever I read solid Christian writing.

One part of me rejoices that I've come across such gems. The other part of me groans inwardly at the amount of time I would then take to read the books because I tend to reflect on what is written, check the biblical references and then think about how all that I've read could relate to or apply to my life.

I'm still reading Warren Wiersbe's On Being a Servant of God and stopping at every page because his writing contains so much of God's wisdom. I could write 140 posts because his book is 140 pages long.

Wiersbe notes that oftentimes, Christians think that God called us to be manufacturers when actually God called us to be distributors. He makes references to Christ's feeding of the five thousand. The multiplication of the five loaves and two fish took place in His hands, while the distribution of the blessing was the work of the disciples' hands. So one of the first steps we need to take before we can be of service to God is to confess our bankruptcy and receive by faith the grace that we need for acceptable service.

He says: "Just as we were saved by grace, through faith, so we must work by grace, through faith, as we seek to minister. Only then can God work in and through us for His glory."

This spoke to me because sometimes, I tend to be like the manufacturer - trying to resolve issues and minister to other people out of my own abilities, out of my own strength, out of my own wisdom and out of my own spirit. In situations, I always have the tendency to try the "me first" approach rather than submit to God and say "you first, Lord".

This is especially true whenever I lend a listening ear to others. I would go into the "fix it" mode and think about how to resolve the problem, rather than look to the grace of God and say humbly that "God, I know You can help him or her far more completely than I can ever hope to do so with my own resources, so please take charge of this situation and guide me."

So Wiersbe's words serve as a reminder to me that without God, I can do nothing; but with God, I can do anything.