Flat Tire
Oh no, not now! That’s what I think when I get a flat tire on my vehicle. I did not allow enough time to deal with this right now. But there it is, flat as a pancake. It is going to take forever to get my jack out and put the spare tire on. Ugg, I’m going to be late for my appointment. By the time I get this done I will be quite dirty. How will I get cleaned up? Maybe someone will drive by and help… But nobody travels this road. Maybe I can call someone, but then again, I would have to walk to the top of the hill to get cell phone service.
Do Not Be Deflated
The Bible tells me not to be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6). That’s easy for the Apostle Paul to say. He didn’t have a flat tire. For crying out loud, I had to read the owner’s manual to find out where my jack is; unload a ton of stuff to get the spare out; and then wonder if I would ever get the overtightened lug nuts loose. I pause and wonder “what am I going to do?” My plans are ruined…
Even though I dramatized this situation, there are many things that can cause anxiety. Has anything interrupted your schedule recently? There will be inopportune events erupting in our life that will deflate plans for the day. So remember, as we are in the midst of a frenzy, be prepared to answer God’s question, “Am I in any of those plans?”
God’s Way
We are told that our ways are not God’s ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). With all those thoughts racing through our mind amidst challenging moments, God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). No matter how difficult or inconvenient a situation finds us in, there is nothing that God cannot do for us (Job 42:2). In fact, just as that flat tire seemed to traumatize my day, God might have used that to make me stronger in some way. Making me realize that I need to listen to His voice as I realize my dilemma in the bigger scheme of things, is quite trivial.
Stand Strong
Paul shares another message in Romans 5:3, “Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that the pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” We all face obstacles from time to time. God doesn’t remove every one of them because He just might be using that moment to bring us back to Him. When we deal with various difficulties, we often become stronger in our faith.
A flat tire in my day to make me realize that there are a lot of larger obstacles I will face in the future. I must use this small hurdle to strengthen my faith for a larger one I might face tomorrow. Whatever the flat tire that you are facing today, stand strong in faith knowing it cannot restrain God’s plans and blessings for you.
Dear Lord, help me to not fret about my one flat tire, but to give thanks for the other three that are not. Amen.
Philippians 4:6
Isaiah 55:8-9
2 Corinthians 5:7
Job 42:2
Romans 5:3
— Phil
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Today’s Scripture
Philippians 4:6
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Compassion of the Lord
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
2 Corinthians 5:7
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Job 42:2
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1 Scripture reference goes here
Romans 5:3
Peace with God through faith
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.