Yesterday was an interesting adventure in fixing a car and prayer.
I do all my own car maintenance- definitely a shade-tree mechanic, but I do enjoy it. I've saved thousands and thousands of dollars by doing my own car maintenance over the years, and it has allowed me to hold onto cars for much longer than most people feel comfortable doing.
My car just turned 202,000 miles, and one thing I know about Nissan Maximas: the rear brakes are a weakness. I'll spare the jargon, but suffice to say that after a certain point, you don't know if you will be able to change brake pads due to not being able to get the brake piston back into the caliper.
Well, the metal-on-metal sound my car was making when I slowed down definitely tipped me off that it was time to change them. So, yesterday morning, I jacked up the car, took off the back tires, and started to work. The first side was easy! Got it done in less than five minutes. Old brake pads out, new ones in, piece of cake.
The second side, well, that was a challenge. I took the old pads out, and as I tried to get the piston back in to the caliper, it stuck. It stuck hard. This is known as "freezing" to mechanics. If it wouldn't go in, there was no way to get the new pads in. If the new pads didn't go in, the car wouldn't be drivable. Brakes only work when ALL the brakes work.
I had a meeting in about thirty minutes. I had to get to work. I was responsible for picking up kids that afternoon. Needless to say, I was in a bind. I tried again to get the piston back in. It wouldn't go. I tried applying more force, and the tool slipped and sliced open my hand. Needless to say, it wasn't going anywhere. It was "frozen."
At that point, I could have taken two different paths. The natural part of me wanted to let loose with some words that would peel paint off the walls- a blue streak of profanity that would rival Ralphie's dad's black cloud still hanging over Lake Michigan in "A Christmas Story." A string of words so foul that all milk within a mile radius would instantly curdle. I've been here before. I've threatened to send every car I own to the junkyard, to beat them with sledgehammers, to burn them with a cutting torch, all the while telling the cars what I thought of their mothers when this kind of stuff happens. Anyone who has worked on cars knows exactly what I'm talking about.
The spiritual part of me wanted to pray. I thought, "What good will that do? A dozen people got murdered in Paris this morning by some Muslim terrorists, and you think God cares about a stupid brake pad problem I'm having?" But, I did it anyway. I said, "God, I need you to unstick this piston. I need it to turn two full rotations, and I need it now. To You be the glory."
I put the pliers on the piston. It turned exactly two revolutions and stopped again. I kid you not.
Now, just before that, I had applied enough force to bust the thing in two, and it didn't budge. I had turned the pliers so hard that my hand today is still bruised from the pressure, and the scabbed-over cut on my other hand bears testimony to the amount of force I applied when it slipped and cut my hand open. After the prayer, I turned it like I was turning a screwdriver.
So what, Dave? Big deal. You changed your brake pads and God helped. So what? Why write a blog about it?
Here is why: the point isn't the answered prayer. The point was the fellowship with God.
I learned, or re-learned, that I can approach God in the small things as well as the big things. Some things are really no big deal, like a brake caliper. Other things ARE big deals, like dealing with the loss of a loved one or getting bad news from the doctor. The point is- God is with us through the big AND the little.
Many times, I think we fail to approach God because we think it's too trivial for Him to bother. He's got a whole universe to deal with, terrorists, murder, etc. This is wrong. God cares about you in the trivial as well. Why? Because He loves you. It's important to Him because it's important to you. That's what people who love you do- they care about the things that you care about. It may be no big deal on the big grand scheme of things, but if it's a big deal to you, it's a big deal to Him.
The point of prayer isn't getting what we want. The point of prayer is fellowship with God.
That was lesson number one.
Lesson number two was that God can accomplish more with His strength than I can with mine. My strength got me little more than a bruise on my right hand and gash on my left. His strength was more than enough. What are you doing today in your own strength that might just wind up hurting you?
Lesson number three was that prayer accomplished what profanity didn't. I'm glad my mom wasn't there, because I'd be tasting soap for the next month.
Three lessons- all of them wonderful and beautiful. Be encouraged today by the fellowship you can have with God. Pray, not for what you want, but so that you can experience the deep friendship and relationship with the God of the universe, who alone is the answer to all our prayers. God bless.
I do all my own car maintenance- definitely a shade-tree mechanic, but I do enjoy it. I've saved thousands and thousands of dollars by doing my own car maintenance over the years, and it has allowed me to hold onto cars for much longer than most people feel comfortable doing.
My car just turned 202,000 miles, and one thing I know about Nissan Maximas: the rear brakes are a weakness. I'll spare the jargon, but suffice to say that after a certain point, you don't know if you will be able to change brake pads due to not being able to get the brake piston back into the caliper.
Well, the metal-on-metal sound my car was making when I slowed down definitely tipped me off that it was time to change them. So, yesterday morning, I jacked up the car, took off the back tires, and started to work. The first side was easy! Got it done in less than five minutes. Old brake pads out, new ones in, piece of cake.
The second side, well, that was a challenge. I took the old pads out, and as I tried to get the piston back in to the caliper, it stuck. It stuck hard. This is known as "freezing" to mechanics. If it wouldn't go in, there was no way to get the new pads in. If the new pads didn't go in, the car wouldn't be drivable. Brakes only work when ALL the brakes work.
I had a meeting in about thirty minutes. I had to get to work. I was responsible for picking up kids that afternoon. Needless to say, I was in a bind. I tried again to get the piston back in. It wouldn't go. I tried applying more force, and the tool slipped and sliced open my hand. Needless to say, it wasn't going anywhere. It was "frozen."
At that point, I could have taken two different paths. The natural part of me wanted to let loose with some words that would peel paint off the walls- a blue streak of profanity that would rival Ralphie's dad's black cloud still hanging over Lake Michigan in "A Christmas Story." A string of words so foul that all milk within a mile radius would instantly curdle. I've been here before. I've threatened to send every car I own to the junkyard, to beat them with sledgehammers, to burn them with a cutting torch, all the while telling the cars what I thought of their mothers when this kind of stuff happens. Anyone who has worked on cars knows exactly what I'm talking about.
The spiritual part of me wanted to pray. I thought, "What good will that do? A dozen people got murdered in Paris this morning by some Muslim terrorists, and you think God cares about a stupid brake pad problem I'm having?" But, I did it anyway. I said, "God, I need you to unstick this piston. I need it to turn two full rotations, and I need it now. To You be the glory."
I put the pliers on the piston. It turned exactly two revolutions and stopped again. I kid you not.
Now, just before that, I had applied enough force to bust the thing in two, and it didn't budge. I had turned the pliers so hard that my hand today is still bruised from the pressure, and the scabbed-over cut on my other hand bears testimony to the amount of force I applied when it slipped and cut my hand open. After the prayer, I turned it like I was turning a screwdriver.
So what, Dave? Big deal. You changed your brake pads and God helped. So what? Why write a blog about it?
Here is why: the point isn't the answered prayer. The point was the fellowship with God.
I learned, or re-learned, that I can approach God in the small things as well as the big things. Some things are really no big deal, like a brake caliper. Other things ARE big deals, like dealing with the loss of a loved one or getting bad news from the doctor. The point is- God is with us through the big AND the little.
Many times, I think we fail to approach God because we think it's too trivial for Him to bother. He's got a whole universe to deal with, terrorists, murder, etc. This is wrong. God cares about you in the trivial as well. Why? Because He loves you. It's important to Him because it's important to you. That's what people who love you do- they care about the things that you care about. It may be no big deal on the big grand scheme of things, but if it's a big deal to you, it's a big deal to Him.
The point of prayer isn't getting what we want. The point of prayer is fellowship with God.
That was lesson number one.
Lesson number two was that God can accomplish more with His strength than I can with mine. My strength got me little more than a bruise on my right hand and gash on my left. His strength was more than enough. What are you doing today in your own strength that might just wind up hurting you?
Lesson number three was that prayer accomplished what profanity didn't. I'm glad my mom wasn't there, because I'd be tasting soap for the next month.
Three lessons- all of them wonderful and beautiful. Be encouraged today by the fellowship you can have with God. Pray, not for what you want, but so that you can experience the deep friendship and relationship with the God of the universe, who alone is the answer to all our prayers. God bless.
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