Creator God – My Handyman?

I realize that this title sounds out of line, but stay with me and it might make sense. I intend no disrespect toward God – in reality, my goal is just the opposite. But I wonder if He sometimes feels like we see Him as our handyman. I believe we can treat Him that way and not even know it is happening.
The handyman occupation is focused on fixing things. We break something and we schedule our handyman to repair it. We do not consider the time of day or night because we know he wants us to call. We are his livelihood – he needs us.

We may remember to express appreciation for his efforts, but it is easy to forget because if we paid him, he has his reward. If he does not do the work to our satisfaction, we do not hesitate to ask that he make it right at his own expense. After all, he is supposed to do the job correctly. He works for us.

If we really like his work, we may recommend him to others. Perhaps he will reward us in some way for our recommendation, because he does need us to keep him in business. If we meet someone who does even better work for less money, we may make a change. We have the option to choose our handyman.

I believe many humans treat God as if He were our handyman. Somewhere we got the idea that He needs us or at least He wants to be a part of our life. But selfish as we are, we think life is more about us than Him, so we fail to honor Him as the Creator. Instead of the created honoring the Creator, we think the Creator exists to perform for us.

When we have a tragedy in our life, we expect Him to bring us hope. When we need help to pass a test or get a better job, we think He is on call to make it happen. When we have a problem, we think He needs to solve it. And when that does not happen, we turn on him in anger and feel that He is no longer the good God.

We need some form of communication with our handyman – with God we call it “prayer.” It is amazing how people desire prayer during hard times but show no other evidence of a relationship with God. Handyman prayers will result in us saying God is good if our problem gets resolved to our satisfaction. But if not, we may actually blame Him for not doing His job.

A correct attitude toward Creator God places Him in a position that should never view Him as a handyman. He made everything and is capable of fixing anything, but He should not be viewed as our on-call fixer whenever we need Him. Amazing as it is, He wants to be our friend and He made that possible by sending Jesus to be the bridge to a secure relationship with Him.

If we honor Him as Creator God, we will appreciate the things He allows us to enjoy and we will accept the hard times with trust. As long as we view God as our handyman, we will lack the joy and peace that are possible when we honor Him for Who He really is.

I am sorry to admit that at times I view God as my handyman. And when that happens, I have no joy or peace until I admit my sin and honor Him correctly. He is not my handyman. He is the Creator of life and the universe, my Savior and my friend.

pastor@woodvillagebaptist.org