Rung Out
Being a long-standing member of the Macho-Male Club, I must follow the Macho-Male Creed in home improvement. Now the Macho-Male Creed in home improvement is relatively simple (it has to be in order for the members to follow it).
First, we strap on an overloaded tool belt with tools we will never use or could ever identify. If you asked the name of these tools, we would use technical terms, like “thing-ma-bob” and “do-hickey”. We also grunt while we were saying the names to make them indecipherable and sounding very macho-like. When reading the Macho-Male Rule Book, most members have to look up the word “indecipherable” in the dictionary or have their wives explain it to them.
Second, we spend hours thinking about our project. This is strategy. Sometimes, if you think about the project long enough, the project goes away. This happened to a good buddy of mine when he was thinking about replacing his roof shingles. After three years, the project went away when the roof collapsed.
Third, we prepare the project area by spreading tools all over the place, making excess noise, and in whatever way possible, we stir up dust and dirt. This is a good time to plug in electric tools and pull the triggers, creating more noise, and sounding more impressive than the actual work to be done.
Finally, we can start the project if we can remember what we were attempting to complete.
This is all fine in the general scheme of home improvement, except in a project I completed last fall. The goal of this simple project was to paint the trim around the outside of the house. I strapped on my overloaded tool belt and studied my work area.
As I examined the height of the two-story house from the driveway, I was convinced it was not all that high. Surely, some people could even levitate that high, if they were into that sort of nonsense. I was confident I would be able to reach the highest part over the driveway and ignore the hard, unforgiving concrete waiting for me at the bottom. The driveway certainly did not look intimidating when standing on it; how bad could it be from the top of the ladder?
The first hurdle was getting to the highest trim, as it seemed just out of reach for my tallest ladder. Yet my Macho-Male mind found a solution by propping the ladder in the back of my pick-up truck.
By the way, when grading Macho-Male projects, you get an extra fifty points for any project where you can include your pick-up truck, lawn mower, or sledgehammer in a unique way. Also, the average Macho-Male mind cannot comprehend the words stupid idea or disaster.
Once all the elements of my project were figured out and ready, the next step was climbing the ladder. The first rung was easy. The second and third were relatively sturdy. The fourth rung caused the ladder the shake uncontrollably. This was strange, because the ladder did not shake while it was leaning against the house by itself. I am positive it was the ladder shaking, not my legs.
I realized the shaking was due to my overloaded tool belt. My second trip up the ladder proved this was a correct, as I made it to the fifth step before the ladder began shaking… again, it was the ladder shaking and not my legs.
After seven more attempts up the ladder, each one with a new method to conquer the shaking steps and each one ending in quaking discouragement, I finally decided to depart from the Macho-Male Creed.
I prayed.
This may be an over-simple solution for some to accept, yet it worked for me. This story would be more powerful if I could tell you the next trip up the ladder was successful, however I did make it further up before chickening out. I prayed again and made it higher. This time I prayed while I stood there clinging to the shaking ladder and I recognized the ladder was not going to fall. In the way it was propped up and secured at both the top and the bottom, it was only going to shake while I was in the middle. Once I reached the top, the shaking minimized.
When I was finished, I found it easy to slip into that Macho-Male way of thinking and take credit for the job.
I then remembered what the Bible tells us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” I could have climbed the ladder on my own, yet I lacked the courage and the strength. By my prayers, God strengthened me and enabled me to complete the task.
I also know the commandments given by our Lord, which are summarized in Mark 10:19, “You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud…” By taking credit for the strength and courage God gave me to climb the ladder, I was giving “false testimony”, if only to myself. To put it plain and simple, I was deceiving myself. I was lying.
What is important to remember is no matter which rung of life we are on, the Lord will hear our prayers, will answer our prayers, and will give His strength in accordance to His Word. Some might think we have to climb a few rungs, clean up our act, or prepare ourselves in a certain way before the Lord will hear us. Others might think we have to sink to our lowest level before the Lord will answer our prayers or before we actually need Him.
The truth to learn is He is faithful to answer our prayers when we seek Him. Not only is He faithful to answer our prayers, He is with us on every rung in life, no matter on which rung we happen to be standing… and no matter how much the rung is shaking.
Do you know the Lord in this way?
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Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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