The task was on my list for almost a year. Finally I had run out of excuses as to why I shouldn't do the task today. After all, how difficult could it be to install a garage door opener? They showed in pictures the tools necessary, the amount of time it should take and even had step by step instructions on what to do first and subsequent steps. What could go wrong?! I'm a guy. That's what could go wrong. Guys tend to "figure things out" and not get hung up on details often ending up with extra parts, broken parts or somehow even missing parts. The box was heavy and large. Don't be daunted by the box I told myself. The box, once opened, displayed more bags of parts, nuts, bolts, rolls of wire, straps, mounting brackets, worm drive sections, and of course the garage door opener motor. All of this mounted on the ceiling of my garage. This is going to be an all day affair and I may have to call some backup to finish the job or at least correct my mistakes.
Did I mention a parts list and instruction manual? I received one of those October 1, 1971 in Kitzigen, West Germany (then). I was in the process of finding out what my life was all about when disaster struck. My best friend Ronnie was killed in an auto accident. My life tumbled down like you wouldn't believe. If I had any sense of what was to come perhaps I wouldn't have been so down. So there I was in my hole of depression up in the guard tower guarding the ammo dump. I was armed with a loaded .45 pistol and alone. It was shortly after midnight when I thought, "What's the use of living anymore?" and removed the pistol from it's holster. I was reminded of another person's "Unbeliever" prayer. I decided to throw out the question knowing that it would go into space and never be answered. So, I said, "God, if you are out there." That's all that I got out. Next thing I know the room is filled with a warmth and I felt a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. I knew at that moment that God had visited me. Letting him in was easy at that point as the alternatives weren't very good.
What I didn't realize was that God would give me a package full of "stuff" and an instruction book that would look like my life once I completed construction. The only problem was there were many parts and I was overwhelmed. The object of the exercise was to unveil who I was in Christ. A kind of sculpture/structure/witness of who I was now that I was in Christ. One of the first mediums present was the spiritual. The promised Holy Spirit empowered me to choose God over sin or the world. So, I had the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the box called Steve now. They would work together and independently to bring about changes that reflected my life now called to service to Jesus. With these 3 I also had my heart, mind and soul opened to the Word of God; the Bible. Previously read portions now making sense like never before. This gift was followed closely by the body of believers that can be found anywhere in the world. With all of this I was set before the world to bring glory to Jesus.
There have been plenty of times when I've chosen to put the project called "me" down and to just skip a part of the instructions. Bad idea. There were plenty of times where having lost my way I returned to the Christian road and continued my journey. In this life in Christ there are no mistakes in the instructions. Neither are there any extra part or missing ones. God has outfitted us with all that we will ever need. I'm sure I'll be fine with the projects completion. I don't know what the final picture will be. I only hope that the final picture will reveal Jesus and not me.
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