|
A series of convenient and happy coincidences-- In Faith, never save anything for the swim back January 2004
Friday evening I suspected that my furnace was not working properly. On Sunday morning the fact was confirmed when I looked at the thermostat and it read 55°F. So, I turned off the power to the furnace and went to work.
After work I went over to Tom’s house and watched a football game with friends. Our team lost. After the game I asked the guys if they would come over and take a look at my furnace and see if they could figure anything out.
Jason came over and commented to me that he doesn’t know much about furnaces. I replied that neither did I but that anything he might figure out would be more than I currently knew. So he popped off the front cover and he poked around. I stood behind him as an act of support.
Moments later he held what we decided to call the "ignition coil" in his hand. Jason said that while he didn’t know much, he suspected that the furnace wasn’t firing because the ignition coil was cracked. I agreed with him and nodded heartily. He encouraged me that if I could find a replacement part I’d be set for heat again. And with that he placed the ignition coil back into place.
Good! So now I had a lead. I opened the phone book to see if someone would come out and replace it that evening, but I soon decided against it when I was quoted the weekend surcharge for a service call. Besides, I suspected that the price they would charge me for a replacement coil would rival the Gross Domestic Product of a Central American country.
About that time Tom had come to see how things were going. I told him that I would need to wait until the morning to get the furnace fixed. He asked if I wanted to ride with him as he took his children up to their grandparents. Recognizing that his van was warmer than my house I volunteered to go along.
We chatted on the way up and back. As he pulled into my drive Tom said. “Let’s go look at that furnace.” I thought to myself, “I already know that it likely is a cracked ignition coil.” But I said nothing to discourage my friend. We went downstairs and I showed him what Jason had shown me. Tom nodded and we both agreed that the problem likely was a faulty ignition coil.
Tom ducked upstairs to attend to matters related to having consumed several large drinks during the football game. I went into my study room and starting looking on the Internet to see where I might find the needed replacement part. I admit, I had no idea whether this was the sort of thing commonly stocked at a discount home center or whether it needed to be special ordered. My heart calmed when several entries identified that the ignition coil was a common item and I would not need to order it at a premium from an outlet in Lost Hollow, Canada.
By this time Tom had returned. He commented to me that a year earlier he had picked up an air conditioner part for his friend Gary from a guy who did business from his house. He suggested we might call Gary. So I asked if he would on my behalf.
I only was privy to Tom’s end of the conversation but fifteen minutes later Tom has a partial name of the possible source for the replacement part—something with “Discount” in the name. We look up all the places on our side of town with “Discount” in the name that might have something to do with heating. We came across one with an address in our neighborhood.
It is 9:15 p.m. by this time—on a Sunday night. Tom dials the number and starts to say, “We’re looking for a replacement ignition coil for a furnace.” But he ends the phone call abruptly. I asked if we had found the right place. Tom turns to me and says, “He said, ‘Come on over.’” Of all the luck!
Tom drives me over to the guy’s home. We walked in, me clutching the faulty part in my hand. The guy barely looks at it and announces that he will be right back. Thirty seconds later he returns with a small box and tells me the cost. I peel off two small bills and we are on our way again.
We get home and go into the basement. I snap in the new part and we abandon the basement. Tom stands right by the backdoor to listen and tell me whether the furnace has lighted. He wants a good escape should we have misjudged the furnace problem. I go to the thermostat and turn on the heat. It needs to be noted that the furnace is directly beneath the thermostat. I’m located in the ideal place to become a human rocket. Then Tom and I cover our faces and cross our fingers for the best result.
We waited ten very quiet seconds. A person can think a whole lifetimes of thoughts in such a time. Then I hear it, “Foom!” It’s the telltale sign that the furnace has lighted. We linger by the backdoor for few minutes, just for good measure. No problems.
No single one of us had the complete solution. But together we had the answer. Call it a series of convenient and happy coincidences if you like. I am convinced that the Lord worked an act of faith within me. Each person had been placed before me with the next step toward resolution.
It reminds me of a joke.
The winter thaw and spring rain have combined to create a flood. The waters have begun to rise and the town evacuates except for a devout man standing on his porch decrying that the people have abandoned their faith in God because they are deserting.
The town fire marshall rows up to the man on his front porch and tells him to get into the boat. By this time, the waters have risen and are beginning to trickle onto the porch. The man declines, stating loudly to the skies that the Lord will prevail. The fire marshall rows on.
A while later, the mayor of the town comes by in a rowboat and tells the man to get in. The water by this time has risen as to the second storey of the house. But the man declines, preferring to stand inside the window, crying out that the people must have faith because the Lord will prevail.ail.
Time passes and the man retreats to his rooftop to escape the rising water. Along comes a helicopter and a rope ladder is dropped to the man. The pilot gets out a megaphone and calls down to the man to climb up to safety. And once again the man calls out that the people must have faith; the Lord will prevail.
The man dies and ascends to Heaven. He is greeted at the gates by God Himself. The man is stunned. He looks at God and says. "But I had faith Lord. Why didn't you answer my prayers and prevail?"
God smiles and says, "But I did; I sent two rowboats and a helicopter for you."
Faith is asking God for help and accepting who & what He sends. That requires us as believers to be vigilant in recognizing who & what is sent. No one of the persons who helped restore heat to my house was the complete solution. But each was. Each was sent in sequential order with a specific piece of the solution. God is wonderful! He opened my eyes to the importance of Christian fraternity. At my insistence and urging, each person was asked for his contribution. I almost rejected a sent "rowboat." I almost sent Tom away without listening to him.
Tom has reminded me over the years that God gives each of us two ears and two eyes, but only one mouth. With double the odds, we should listen and look more--and speak less.
Faith requires us to "save nothing for the swim back." This is a reference from the movie Gattaca. I highly recommend this movie. The background music alone is reason enough to watch it.
Here is a brief summary of the movie:
Gattaca foresees a destiny where everyone is genetically engineered at conception to promote their best DNA qualities, from hair color to IQ. Those who are conceived in flesh and love, known as ‘invalids’, are outside the norm and subject to human frailties like heart conditions or myopia. Vincent Freeman (played by Ethan Hawke) is an invalid who is unable to fulfill his dream of traveling in space because he is not genetically engineered. So he borrows the identity of a "valid." He becomes a “stolen ladder” by assuming the identity of a Jerome Morrow (played by Jude Law), a genetically enhance swimmer who became crippled after a car accident. Vincent becomes Jerome, a top navigator at Gattaca, a company that explores space. But when a company manager is murdered, Vincent-Jerome’s identity is in danger of being discovered.
Vincent has a younger brother, Anton. Anton was conceived with genetic enhancements because the parents wanted a son of whom they could be proud. And Anton and Vincent would swim out in the ocean as far as they could. At first, Anton always would win. Then Vincent swims out farther. Anton does not believe this is possible because as a "valid" he is supposed to be superior to his "in-valid" brother. So Anton asks his brother Vincent how Vincent is able to swim out farther. And Vincent replies, "You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back!"
Faith never saves anything for the swim back. Because when you reserve energy, you are placing doubt in Faith. Read in the Scriptures how God rewards full faith and rejects those who do not place full Faith in Him. The Israelites were told they were God's chosen people and that He would lead them to the Promise Land. But they would have to rely on God to provide their daily needs.
In Exodus 16:19, they are told not to store any food; God will provide ample food each day to meet their needs. But some doubt and keep some food for their next meal. In Exodus 16:26, God asks Moses how long these people will refuse to obey His commands and instructions. In Exodus 16:35, we are told that the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived in the land of Canaan--where there were crops to eat. In Exodus 17:5, God gives Moses the ability to strike his staff on the rock at Mount Sinai and bring forth water for the people to drink.
It is stated in the New Testament in Hebrews 3:14-19 that had the people of Israel trusted in God, they would not have needed to have wandered the desert for forty years. But even though they were to walk the desert for forty years, God still provided for them.
Faith is not to be tested. Faith will be shown and proven to the believer but he is not to test God.
In Faith, never save anything for the swim back
|