A man once walked into the hardware store looking for a good saw. He told the clerk he needed a saw that would cut 5 cords of wood a day. The clerk sold him a top-notch chain saw, and the customer went on off to work. He came back a couple of days later asking for a refund. He said “I can only cut a cord a day with this saw, it’s just not working like you said it would.” The clerk assured him it was a top of the line saw, and encouraged the man to try again.

The customer took the saw back out to the woods, and tried to cut more wood. No matter how hard he worked, he could just not get more than a cord a day, and after a few days, the man took the saw back to the hardware store again. He told the clerk that he needed wood for building, wood for heating and wood to sell, and this saw was just not good enough.

The clerk agreed to look at the saw, reached down, and pulled the cord, and the saw roared into action. The customer sprang back, shocked! He’d never pulled the cord. He’d never turned that fantastic top of the line chainsaw on. He was trying to cut the wood in his own strength instead of using the tools he’d been supplied with. How foolish! Don’t you agree?

We do the same thing when we try to fulfill God’s designs in our own strength instead of relying on His super-natural power to get the job done!

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