The Steel Pan Man

It was mid-morning, hot and humid, in Trinidad. I had stepped off the bus into familiar territory, a place that I had been before. Memories assaulted me from 7 years before. My first trip to Trinidad. My first VBS in Trinidad. My first connection with children in Trinidad. As I looked around I saw the familiar carts that would hold steel pan drums, a big open field with grass that came up to my ankles, a concrete slab where we once held puppet shows...and then I heard it. A faint, but consist tink...tink...tink. I looked across the open field to a small shack. Nothing. Nobody was there. So I paused and listened. Again, tink...tink, tink...tink. This time I realized it was coming from the left. I turned, looking into the sun. There across the field and across the road, I saw a man. The man was the one making that faint noise. Walking toward the man, the tink became louder. What was he doing? The sound drew me in and before I knew it, I was standing right next to him, watching him.

He was dressed in an old dark gray t-shirt, small holes littered the shirt. Cotton shorts and well-worn shoes covered the rest of his body. Sitting on a small stool, he was using a small hammer-like tool, tapping a steel pan. This steel pan was not the beautiful, shiny, polished pan. No, this pan was rusty, and brown, with a few small holes smattering the base of the drum. The man was focused. I watched as he would tap the drum, then rub his hand along the drum, feeling for any defects. As I stood there, I thought to myself, "Goodness, why does he take his time with that steel pan? Looks like junk to me." He read my mind. He turned, looked at me, and then proceeded to tell me about the steel pan drum. Each drum is hand-made by pounding steel, then sent to get polished and shined up, then sent back to the creator to be tuned again before being sent to be purchased. One drum takes months to tune, weeks to polish, and then more weeks to tune again.

The way that he almost, lovingly, tuned that steel-pan made me think of myself and my relationship with my Creator God and Savior Jesus Christ. God is like that man. He sees a "piece of junk" something that seems to be unusable, insignificant, worthless, and creates a beautiful masterpiece. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to come and give us a free gift of salvation, a chance at living and becoming a usable, significant, worthy masterpiece. I was once that old, ugly steel pan. God took the time to pick me up from that pile of junk, look at me, and see me for who I could be. He is molding be everyday. Tapping me, making sure that my "notes," my way of living, is beautiful and pleasing to Him. He will do the same for you, if you only ask.

Who is God calling me to be?

Who is God calling me to be? Not, what am I called to do.

Who am I? 

I am a child of God. And because I am a child of God, I am able to be molded into who God wants me to be. No matter how hard, or easy life is, I know that because I am God's child that I should not worry about the future. Does that mean that I will never worry, no. Does that mean that I will always be 100% sure of what I am "called to do," absolutely not, but I do know that it's not about what I am called to do, it is about who I am called to be.

God has called me to be a person who loves people. 

 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”- John 13:34-35

God has called me to be a servant. 

  

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."- Galatians 5:13

God has called me to be a leader. 

"Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."- 1 Timothy 4:12

God has called me to be a person of compassion. 

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."- Colossians 3:12

 

God has called me to be a person who forgives. 

 "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."- Colossians 3:13


Sometimes Christians focus too much on outward "callings." Thinking that, "Oh, _(insert name)_ is doing the Lord's work by ministering overseas." or "My life as a Christian, does not mean as much as __(insert name)__'s life because I have not been called to do that particular thing, so I must not be important. No! False! As Christians, it is our duty to become the person that God wants us to be and has asked us to be.  

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus"

-Colossians 3:17

What if we all decided that we were "called" to go overseas? Who would be "called" to here? What if we all were "called" to teach? That would never work! Each member of the Christian body is like the actual, physical body. We cannot all be the eyes. We cannot all be the ears. Each has an important role in the functioning of the Christian body, but there is one thing that we all can be. We can all be the feet. The feet that proclaim the Gospel of Christ wherever we are! And we all can complement each other in the body of Christ. Complement means "a thing that completes or brings to perfection, a number of something to make a group complete." We all complete the body of Christ. That is what we are "called to be and called to do."

  "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you 

 ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully." 

-Romans 12:3-8

God has given each one of us different gifts to be used. Do not ever think that your gift goes unseen. Do not ever think that you don't have a purpose. That your life is less important than (insert name)'s life. God has called each one of us to be the person who knows what we believe, why we believe, and a follower of Jesus Christ- the perfect example of who God has called us to be. Never think the Christian life is about actions/works. When you let the Lord work in your life, you will know who you are, who He has called you to be, and with that will come what God has called you to do.


But first, we must ask ourselves....Who is God calling me to be?