It
was hot; the middle of summer, and all Wendell could think about was getting a
double scoop ice cream cone from the local ice cream parlor. There was only one
problem; Wendell lived on a farm 15 miles from the nearest town. Wendell was
somewhat proud and audacious, and at 8 years old, decided he was capable of
driving His Father’s truck into town to get the double scoop ice cream cone he
had been daydreaming about. Wendell did not care if his father would object to
the idea of ice cream, and did not ask him to drive him into town to get it.
Wendell arrogantly assumed he was wise enough to make his own decisions and
that he was more than capable of driving the truck all by himself. So Wendell climbed behind the steering
wheel of the truck, his feet barely reaching the pedals, and then started down
the road toward the ice cream shop. There were many bumps in the road that
jerked the truck from left to right but Wendell was determined to do this on
his own. You see, Wendell was proud of his independence, and valued being
autonomous and self-reliant. Then, just before pulling into town, Wendell hit a
giant pothole and the truck went flying off the road into a deep ditch. Wendell
had crashed. He tried everything he could to get the truck out of the ditch,
but finally realized there was no hope of doing it on his own. Wendell, feeling
foolish, weak, and insufficient, finally called his Father to come pull him out
of the ditch. He apologized for his arrogance and pride, and confessed that his
independence and self-reliance was misplaced. Wendell’s father wrapped him in
his arms, just happy that his son was safe. He then pulled Wendell out of the
ditch, forgave his son for his mistakes, and together Wendell and his father
repaired the truck. His father gave the instructions while Wendell made the
repairs. Although it took some
time, the truck ended up more magnificent than ever before, and Wendell and his
father formed a beautiful, trusting, honoring, and loving relationship in the
process.
The
little boy, Wendell, in this story represents the man or woman who does not
believe that they need God. Believing that they can be in the driver seat of
their life, making all the calls on their own. But that independence from God
always leads to self-destruction. We always crash. Once we realize that we
cannot go through life on our own, that we NEED our Father to be in control, we
can ask Him to become the Lord over our lives. Once we are humbled and
recognize our weakness, foolishness, pride, arrogance, and deficiency, we can
turn to God and ask him for forgiveness. And once we make the decision to die
to ourselves and be born again as a FOLLOWER of God, He will pull us out from
the deep ditch we fell into and begin a beautiful relationship with us as He
rebuilds our life.
I
know what it feels like to be Wendell- to be humbled before God, to receive His
forgiveness, to begin rebuilding my life with my Father giving the directions
while I make the repairs, and to have a beautiful relationship with God as a
result. And the beauty of it is, the more repairs I make and the deeper I go
into relationship with God, the more beautiful my life is! My relationships are
stronger, I have more fun, my heart is overflowing with love, I am never alone,
I have peace of mind, I am taken care of, and I am spoiled by God. I have
purpose and love and protection and loyalty. I have a rock to stand on, help in
times of trouble, and a shoulder to cry on. I have a Father that will never
leave me nor forsake me, who is absolutely in love with me, and who wants to
share all He has with me. God has blessed me immensely with a wonderful family,
loyal friends, great adventures, and lots of little warm fuzzies every day! I
would never trade my relationship with God for the independence I once had. And
the only reason I am able to have this exquisite relationship with God is
because Jesus Christ paid for my mistakes, my bumps on the road, and my crashes
in life. He took my inadequacies and failures and nailed them to the cross, so
that I didn’t have to pay for them, so that they could no longer be held
against me, so that I could have the ability to choose a life with God. Thanks
to Jesus we all have that ability! Thank you Jesus, I love you! So who is in
control of your life? Who is driving your truck? Something to think about… 🙂
