"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when
you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).
Hey Gang, let me give you a piece of fabulous
news - it works! Those that have been with me through the past years
remember the problems I had with my D14 Allis Chalmers tractor. If not I
can attest that it was one royal huge pain. I would get one thing under
control only to run smack dab into three others.
Now I don't like to admit it, because most out
there have never seen me when I was total frazzled and lost my cool, but it
was not safe to be within throwing distance, during some of those battles with
this "ghastly beast".
But let me share the fruits of those
battles. I was having problems keeping the ‘ghastly beast’ running at the
end of last year and was sure it was a carburetor problem, so I trudged it up
to the repair shop and had it rebuilt. End of problem, right - wrong.
It ran for ten minutes and then died.
So, I took all the lines off, blew out them
out along with the gas tank and carburetor and put it all together and,
hallelujah, it kicked right off. The problem was solved, right?
Wrong! It ran for ten minutes and died. So, I did what any
intelligent lad would do, I left it set and decided to change my focus for the
day from moving dirt to cutting one of the many trees that have been taken down
by mother nature's wrath, then seek someone with a lot more wisdom in such
things as repairing ‘ghastly beast’.
Two pulls on the starter cord and the
chainsaw roared into action. I was now on a roll and there was no question
in my mind but that I was going to have victory and one or more of the trees
would be cut, split, and in the wood pile before the day was over.
Right? Wrong!
I stopped the chainsaw to reset the log for
cutting. When I pulled the starter cord for a restart, you will never guess
what happened. Did I hear the engine roar into action? No! What I
heard was a snapping sound and the starter cord became a soggy noodle. I
had snapped the connecting spring inside the starter mechanism. No
problem, a ‘slight affliction’, yes, but the repair man, with whom I had become
friends because of my many contacts with the ‘ghastly beast’ would fix it and I
would be back on task in a matter of an hour or so.
Right? Wrong! He confirmed I had
blown a spring and went to the shelf to get a replacement- only to find an
empty spot where such springs were normally located. No problem, He
said, "I will call my competitor who also stocks such items".
It seems there has been a run on such items and he, too, did not have one.
A call to a supplier produced the same results, none on the shelf.
As I was driving home from the repair shop it
dawned on me that I had not hit the tractor with a wrench, kicked the tire, or
even uttered angry word toward it; nor when the chainsaw went down did I throw
it down the stairs as I might have done in the early battles with the ‘ghastly
beast’ and ‘chainsaw".
Soooo, my friends, I can attest that
James words do indeed work when we take control and consider it all
joy when I hit the clinkers in the road -for God is faithful and uses
even those experiences to strengthen me and bring some good out of
them. I had enjoyed some praise music on my radio as I drove to the
repair shop, and had a chance to talk with and witness with my friend at the
repair shop. Does that mean I did not feel like
throwing the chain saw down the stairs - no - but I did not!
Blessings,
Gramps
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