Masterpiece

It was just an ordinary stick. Most of us wouldn’t have paid much attention to it. The master carpenter, however, took it back to his shop where he whittled and sanded and varnished until he was so pleased with the results he placed it proudly in his shop window for everyone to see.

Soon an elderly gentleman walked by. “How much for the beautiful cane in your window?” he asked.

“Oh, kind sir, it is a priceless masterpiece, but if it will help you, I want you to have it. You must promise, however, to return it to me if you decide it doesn’t meet your needs,” the carpenter answered.

The next morning the gentleman walked back into the shop. “This cane is too short,” he said sadly as he handed it back to the carpenter.

“It was not actually created to be a cane, but I made this for you last night,” the carpenter said as he handed the customer a most magnificent cane.

The elderly gentleman was delighted and had no sooner walked down the street when a lady entered the shop and rushed up to the shopkeeper. “I must have the beautiful spoon in your window to stir my stew! How much is it?”

“That is a priceless masterpiece, ma’am,” the carpenter replied. “If it will help you, I want you to have it, but you must promise to return it to me if it does not meet your needs.”

The next morning the lady rushed back into the shop and threw the stick down in front of the carpenter. “This is much too big to be a spoon! It is useless to me!” she declared angrily.

“I am so very sorry it did not meet your expectations, but in all fairness, madam, it was not created to be a spoon,” the carpenter said and gently placed it back in the window. “However, I made this for you last night.” He handed her a beautiful wooden spoon. She was quite pleased and returned to her kitchen.

As the day wore on, a young boy entered the store. “Sir, I broke my bat, and now the guys won’t let me play baseball with them. How much is the one in your window?” he asked.

“Son, this is a priceless masterpiece,” the carpenter replied, “but I want you to be able to play ball so please take it and have fun, but you must promise to return it to me if it does not meet your needs.”

“Thank you, mister,” the boy shouted excitedly as he took the stick and ran out the door.

Alas, the lad returned the next morning and sheepishly handed the stick back to the carpenter.

“Thank you, sir, for letting me borrow your bat, but it is too heavy.”

“Well,” the carpenter said, as he ruffled the young boy’s hair, “in all fairness, it was not actually created to be a bat; however, I made this especially for you last night.” The carpenter pulled out a magnificent, new bat. The excited young man raced out to show it to his friends.

The next morning all three customers were waiting for the carpenter when he arrived at his shop.

“Where is your beautiful masterpiece?” they all asked.

“It is there in the window,” he said proudly. “Look closely.”

At first, all they saw was a beautiful chair.

“Why, that is magnificent!” the elderly gentleman said.

“It is absolutely perfect,” the woman breathed.

“Whoa!” the boy cried.

“The stick was not usefal as a cane or a spoon or a bat, but it is a perfect leg for the chair I have been making. THAT is what it was created for.”

The Master Carpenter has made every one of us a unique and priceless masterpiece with a specific purpose. At first sight we may appear to be just as ordinary as that piece of wood in the forest, but God sees what we can be – what we can do. When we work alongside those around us to fulfill our God-given purpose, we are able to make a difference. This little piece of wood was never meant to be a cane, a spoon, and a bat. It was, however, a vital piece to complete a beautiful chair. It would have been useless otherwise. As we live to honor Him, we must keep in mind that others do not dictate our purpose or our worth. God does. When we try and go our own way and do our own thing, we will fail. When we try and please others by doing what they think we should do, we will fail. But we are not failures if we are not successful at something God did not create us for. When we follow God’s plan, we will find we have an important role that nobody else can fulfill.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me! Psalms 139:13-18