Your Toolbox

From this moment on, you’ll never be jealous of a another person again. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? No, it’s really very simple. All you have to know about is your toolbox, and as a gift to you, I’m going to tell you all about it.

Your “toolbox” is your own unique set of talents and aptitudes that no one else on earth has. The Creator created you unique. You have your own special individual task to accomplish and mission to perform on this earth. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. How can we make such a claim? That’s simple too – nothing was created without a reason. Every creation is critical to the proper functioning of the universe.

King David couldn’t understand why in the world The Creator created spiders. One day, alone in the desert, exhausted, his throat parched and limbs in agony, King David fled from his enemies[1]. The enemies pursued him mercilessly, and were about to seize him.

King David had no choice – his last place of refuge was a cave. He crawled inside, and cried out silently in prayer from the depths of his soul. He could hear his enemies approaching on horseback…

A large spider began to weave its web on the opening of the cave. After a few short minutes, the entrance to the cave was completely covered by the spider web. The pursuers reached the cave. “He can’t be inside there”, they said, “Look at that spider web!” The spider saved King David’s life, and King David no longer questioned the necessity of each and every creation.

A mosquito once saved my life and the lives of my brothers-in-arms. During the First Lebanon War in 1982, we had been fighting for five days straight with no sleep. On the sixth day, a ceasefire was declared. Our platoon was on the front lines, only a few hundred meters from hostile elements. We split up sentry duty among the four squads, but we were all exhausted. Nobody could stay awake. The sentries fell fast asleep.

A relentless mosquito buzzed in the ear of one of the sentries, and then bit him on the neck. Reinforcement mosquitoes joined the campaign, with further buzzing and biting. The sentry awoke from his irritated slumber, and saw a rustle in the distance, about 300 yards away. Instantaneously, he opened full fire with his Browning .03 machine gun, exhausting close to 300 shells within twenty seconds. The entire platoon jumped to its feet, and repelled an ambush of Syrian El-Saika terrorists equipped with Russian RPG shoulder missiles that planned to exploit the ceasefire. In a few seconds, we would have been finished, but a mosquito foiled their scheme. For over thirty years now, I haven’t asked why The Creator created mosquitos.

If spiders and mosquitos are vital to the world, then how can you possibly think that you’re not? As a human, you are the most magnificent creation!

Stop thinking that people are better, smarter, or more talented than you are. You don’t know yourself well enough. You haven’t looked at all those wonderful tools in your toolbox. I’ll prove to you how foolish jealousy is – it’s a useless negative emotion that the evil inclination uses to disarm you, and it wastes a lot of your brain power, clarity and self-composure. Worst of all, it gets you down on yourself.

Have you ever seen a carpenter who’s jealous of a plumber? Never! The carpenters are happy that they don’t have to unclog drains and toilets that the plumbers do. So what if the plumber has all types of monkey wrenches and tools that you won’t find in the carpenter’s toolbox. But, you don’t need a monkey wrench to build a table. The carpenter’s not jealous of the plumber, because he has his own job to do. Such tools as block planes, wood saws, lathes and nails are tools that no plumber will ever need.

And, if we look in the electrician’s toolbox, we’ll find tools that no plumber or carpenter has. They can’t replace a burnt fuse but he can’t unplug a sink or build a table.

Once you know what your task is in the world, you’ll never again be jealous of anyone. How do you no what your task is? Look in your toolbox.

If you’re height is 5’5”, your mission in life is definitely not to be a professional basketball player. And if you’re severely near-sighted, it’s not such a good idea to dream of being a fighter pilot. Why? You lack the tools. If you lack the tools, then that’s not your task in life.

Look at your good points. They’re the tools in your toolbox. Each is like a piece of a puzzle; put them all together, and you’ll have a clear picture of what you’re likely to succeed in. Once you piece together your good points, you’ll see how the Creator is gently guiding along your own special path. Once you find it, you’ll be heading straight for happiness and fulfillment. It’s about time that you got to know your wonderful self.