We just got the diagnosis for the Harvest Trailer – the axle is bent. If we don’t get it fixed, it will continue to wear out the tires at a rapid pace. They’ve ordered what they need, but it won’t be here for about 3 weeks. For now, we’re still using the trailer.
But I began reflecting on some of the similarities between a bent axle and our lives.
The weight in our trailer was good stuff. – It’s not always bad stuff that knocks us out. For those of us in ministry roles, it’s often an overload of good things that will burden us down. In fact, the bent axle on the Harvest Trailer came from a trip where we took a load of water and other supplies to Joplin, MO after the tornado – at least that’s when it began, we think.
The trailer is designed for hauling, but not that much. – The trailer is designed for work, pulling and hauling, but it has it’s limit. We are all bound by limits such as hours in the day, amount of money we can spend, amount of time we can effectively work, etc. We have to know those limits and stick to them to finish strong in the long haul.
The trailer still works with a bent axle, but just isn’t quite as effective. The thing still works – in fact, we ‘ve been using it this way unaware of the problem for several months. The worn out tires were just a symptom of the problem.
May not be noticeable to anyone but to you – at least at first. This isn’t something people would pick up on immediate – it’s a concealed problem, an internal issue. So many of our problems are internal for so long – but at some point, if not taken care of, they become public matters.
It doesn’t travel as smoothly when it’s over burdened. When we are overburdened in life, we aren’t able to travel smoothly – there are always bumps in the road. The smallest things send us into a frenzy and we don’t handle problems well.
It sometimes may take someone else telling you that you need to get things straightened out. I may have never known or done anything about it if the guy at the trailer shop didn’t tell me about the problem. There are some things in our own lives that we get used to. That’s why accountability is so important. We don’t want to become isolated to that point that we don’t have opportunities for other people to sharpen us and help us grow.
It’s not easy or cheap to get things right again – and it may take some time. It’s going to cost a little money and is going to take a month to wait for parts and a time to fix it. Like life, turn around can be made, but it’s going to take some time and going to challenge us to be patient!
So there’s our object lesson for the day.
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You don’t have to be wealthy to be generous
Thanks for that word, Tim. That’s a good one. I might have a bent axle. My worn out tires (or most noticeable symptom) = I’m late to everything. I like everything I do, and I’m highly motivated to honor all my “authorities” with my punctuality, yet when the rubber meets the road, the road files down to the tire well.
On Friday I was asked to cover for a sick co-worker, so I did, saying I’d have to leave no later than 1 pm to get to Fire-Up at my target time (one good deed loaded in my trailer). The coworker taking over for me was late, so I didn’t roll out til 1:25 pm (good deed #2). I drove 50 minutes home and ate a late lunch and packed, but my sister was there. having not seen her for a week, all time-based priorities/goals were put on back-burner for a few moments of sister time (the straw that broke the camel’s back). When I returned to the back-burner, my stew had metaphorically boiled over.
When this happens on a regular basis, I’m sure it’s time to reprioritize, but my priorities seem in line, my motivation justified. Never the less, I guess i have my limitations and praying for God to stop the sun in the sky again is not always the answer. I guess I’ll be unpacking my “trailer” this week and paying to get that “axle” fixed and learn from the experience.