Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Ephesians 6:6-7 (KJV)
We live in a rural community, a small town with lots of space. In the area I live, all the homes are on 1-acre lots, or larger. It isn’t unusual to see horses and goats wandering in yards – keeping the vegetation under control. It’s a very comforting sight. Roosters announce the sun, and passing car headlights in the middle of the night. Even the occasional donkey bray, louder that I ever expected, piercing the morning quiet, is comforting. Always makes me chuckle.
We’ve had several years of drought and the lots aren’t scattered with wild flowers, as in years past, but after a monsoon rain, the valley turns immediately green and delightful. Times come when people are unable to care for animals, for health or financial reasons. You often see animals for sale or given away to good homes. Lots overgrow and become fire hazards when the growth becomes dry. Many people commute a long distance to find a good job and their lots suffer.
Not long ago our lot was to the point where we had to do something. Even with three healthy boys in the house, between work, school, church and after-school activities, no one had time. One day I decided enough was enough and created a parental ordinance – all activities were hereby cancelled until the weeds were mowed.
Out came the mower and about 1/16th of an acre later, the wheel busted right off. Good Grief! The wheel was a special order, replaced the year before, and just not what we needed to replace right now. Grumble, Grumble, Grumble! Been there?
Later in the day I needed to head into town. Along a side street I noticed an empty motorized wheelchair. I slowed down to be sure the owner hadn’t fallen out. There he was, on a metal crutch, legs painfully misshaped, weed-eating the front of his lot. Oh, my goodness.
Weeds and dust flew around him, but his smile never diminished. You see, against all odds, and doctor’s reports, he could still do something. He could get out of the wheelchair he had been sentenced to and make his overgrown lot look beautiful. No goat, no horse – just a hobbled man on a crutch with a weed-eater.
So many times I have seen my ministry dreams and visions put on hold and I think – I’m getting old, how can I ever see this come to pass. I read my Bible and pray and wonder, with a shadowing of doubt, whether the ministry that God has burning inside of me will ever get past pen and paper and into reality. I sit in my self-imposed “wheelchair” and cry out for solutions when God is telling me to get out on shaky legs and lean on the “crutch” of the dream that He’s given me and make something beautiful happen; even if I can only go forward a few feet at a time – like my weed-eating friend.
How many of us sit in “wheelchairs” of doubt, fear, shame, and “I can’ts,” never allowing God to use the gifts He’s birthed inside of us. God, stop the wheels on the chair I rest in and push me forward toward the goals You have placed in front of me. Encourage me to take the small steps, every day, toward the finish line that grows nearer with every moment. Prove to me “I Can.”
Linda J. Humes 