It is always amazing to me the
limits God will go to bring about humility in our lives. Today was no
exception. Holly and I had taken our Ford Flex in for an oil change and general
checkup earlier in the day so we had to take my Clunker VW to Leesburg, with
the 3 kids in the back seat to pick it up this evening. Now, I don't know if
you have ever seen a family of 5 in a VW Golf, but it is quite humorous. It
took me back to the days of my childhood. Our car was a 83 Chevette. (not to be
confused with the corvette).....
smile emoticon
The fights me and my sisters
would have in the back seat resembled ultimate fighting matches as seen on
television. During these fights the long arm of my father or mother, which ever
one wasn't driving, would reach behind and grab for whatever they could find.
My mothers hand usually found my hair, or earlobe. It was quite effective. And
painful. My dad would usually just shake his head in disbelief.
Well, tonight resembled this
scene with remarkable accuracy. Here we are in my VW headed down 7 when smoke
began to pour from the hood. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that it was at 5:15
PM! Yes Yes Yes, it was DC traffic which is something that I am still getting
used to. I was in the middle lane, trying to get over into the right lane so I
could get up on the grass in front of Belmont Ridge. You know, in front of the
ponds. With the fountains. Its the place where everyone likes to stare at as
they drive by because of its intrinsic beauty. Well not today. Today the view
was a Father, Mother, 3 screaming kids and a smoking car. What was I wearing?
Sweat pants and fuzzy slippers. I am certain everyone driving by thought we
were the Grizwold family driving down from southeastern WV to see the big tall
white thing at the DC mall and then were disappointed that this mall didn't
have a food court to satisfy our need for Sbarrow. (My family is partly from WV
so I am allowed to poke fun). I sent Holly and the kids around the two lakes
and to the gas station to wait on Ben to come pick them up and take them to our
other car at the shop. I did what every man does who doesn't know anything
about cars but in the heat of the moment decides he does! I decided pip the
hood and stare at the engine block thinking that maybe if I stared hard enough
the problem would fix itself. EPIPHANY! I am a quart low in oil. That must be
the problem. So I walked to the gas station where Holly and the kids were
waiting and purchased some oil and began my "Walk of Shame" There I
was.... with a quart of oil in one hand, walking in the POURING rain in sweat
pants and fuzzy slippers right beside the BMW's and Mercedes of Loudoun County
that were bumper to bumper in our world famous DC traffic. My sweatpants were
so heavy that they began to sag. So I decided to tie the string tighter so they
wouldn't fall down. Oooops. No string. So now, in the pouring rain, I have two
quarts of oil in one hand and the other is hiking up my sweat pants to
embarrassing heights.......and then it hit me.
I began to laugh. I began to
laugh, laugh, laugh. So hard that I had to stop walking for a second and regain
my composure. I noticed people staring in stunned disbelief but I couldn't
stop. I am certain they thought I was either high or intoxicated just plain
crazy but it made no difference. It was like one of the situations where
laughter is so inappropriate but something leaps into your head from the
atmosphere, tickles your funny bone, and causes you to not be able to stop
laughing. To make it worse I began to wave at people. Very few waved back. I
wouldn't have waved back either. "Kids, look away, look away!!!"
It took me a while before I
realized why I was laughing........ It was because I needed this today. I
needed a reminder of how small I am and how big God is. WE....need a reminder
of how small we are and how big God is. It has always bothered me to think back
on the way I react when I am faced with adversity. When the fact of the matter
is...I usually don't face adversity. I experience life. And life is full of ups
and downs, and there isn't a thing we can do about it. The back story is this.
I had an amazing day up to that point, had received some praise for some of my
accomplishments, made some wise decisions, and achieved some victories. I was
was really proud of myself. My chest was puffed out and I walked out of work
thinking "wow, I am really special". Jason Grate you are a home run
hitter. Who can I call to make a plaster bust in my honor? Walking through the
rain, carrying oil, in sweat pants and saturated fuzzy slippers is just what my
pride needed. It's probably what all of our pride needs.
Well I made it home. The VW is in
rough shape. It looks like a blown engine. So we are down to one car. And I'm a
better man because of it.......
Praise God for the Adversity in
your life. Without it we become a faithless, self absorbed shadow of what
Christ intends for us to be.
Paul writes in Romans 5:1-5
1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory
of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know
that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character,
hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
So this week, may your suffering
produce perseverance, and may your perseverance produce character, and may your
character produce the hope that can only come from the blessed Holy Spirit.
(This is a post from 2011 that I
found. Great memory:)
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