Tuesday, October 14, 2014

like rearranging chairs on the Titanic












Simple is a relative term, and I find that life is best lived on that level.  Yesterday’s reminder is proof of that.  It is midafternoon, and my phone rings.  It is a friend I haven’t heard from in months, who needs help.  Rather the husband of his receptionist needs help.  The clutch cable on his Harley broke, and he is stuck about 10 miles from my house, can I help?  Sure, have him ride it without the clutch, no big deal.  Silence, and then “can you call his wife?”  “Why, she’s not stuck?  Give me her husband’s number.”  Quick thinking on my part.  So I call him, and find he is stuck 10 miles from my house.  When he admits he cannot ride the bike without a clutch, I explain how to him, it isn’t difficult.  And the silent reply confirms he can’t.  So I offer to go show him, to follow him home, after he admits he has a truck, but no ramp, and his wife is on the way.  Now they both will be stuck.  My last offer is I’ll ride it to his house, and he can follow on my Bonneville, breaking rule #1, don’t let anyone else ride your bike.  But I figure he’s stuck, a friend of an old friend, and no biker should be left behind.  Finding him was no problem, but explaining it in person got me the deer in the headlights look I should have heard in his voice over the phone.  So I explained I’ll ride his bike, follow me, and when we get to your exit go ahead and I’ll follow you.  Sounds easy, so easy a caveman could do it.  And I lost him...rather he lost me, I’m riding at 25-30 mph, and following the exact directions I told him.  Only one turn involved...so I went home with no problems, but was mad, VERY mad.  Where was my Bonneville?  Had he dumped it?  And Ken’s voice kept repeating in my head, from when I offered a Harley group a ride on a Speed Triple, “Mike, no one here can ride that.”  The Harley and I had made it, where ‘s Bonneville?
Now Theresa knew something was up when she heard the Harley, and saw me on it.  “Don’t say anything,” was all I said, and called my friend.  The Harley guy had lost me, couldn’t keep up, at 25-30 mph?  So he went home, figuring I had gone to his house.  I don’t know where he lives, why would I ride there?  And at this point felt like the guy in charge of rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, it was futile, the iceberg had been hit, and the life boat, my Bonneville was gone.  And then the phone rang, my Bonneville was OK, and he would come in his truck and get his bike from me.  Only about 10 minutes away, he punched my address into his GPS, and arrived 25 minutes later, the GPS had taken him 15 miles out of the way!  Suddenly I was running out of chairs to arrange, but he did show up.  Apologetic, but with no tie downs, we keep many sets, and soon we were loaded up and on the way to get my Bonneville.  Which at this point had become the quest, and this guy kept telling me I was his new best friend.  Just give me my bike, and I’ll be off.  Somehow it all ended well, no one hurt except the clutch cable, which looked like an easy fix, I rode home alone, and all hands were accounted for.  As were all life boats.  And icebergs...the chair count is still out.
Now I tell people the first thing to do in a panic situation is don’t panic.  I hadn’t until he didn’t show, and lost me.  And Theresa reminded me angrily “you know better than to let anyone else ride your bike.  And I can keep up with you better than that!”  But then I had taken my eyes off the Lord, and put them on the situation.  Which turned a nothing situation into panic, anger, and thoughts of my bike in an accident or worse.  I had been prepared for the situation, from riding the Harley to loading it in his truck, but had met a rider who was unprepared, didn’t know, and I had to handle basic riding 101 chores.  A 20 minute excursion had taken over 2 1/2 hours, but it ended well.  Too often we look at the situation, and not to the cross.  We look at the question, get frustrated, pray, then act irresponsibly anyway, without letting God answer.  This was no big deal to our Lord, but to both of us who rode, a big deal.  He had trusted me, I delivered, and I had trusted him, he hadn’t.  But God had it worked out, and we all arrived at our homes safe and sound.
But too often we are arranging chairs on our Titanic, we are the Captain Kirk of our own Enterprise, and things don’t go right.  But fortunately Jesus never leaves us, even when we make wrong turns, or those you are leading can’t keep up at 25 mph.  He never gets too far ahead, as any great shepherd does, and he even prepares the path ahead for us, I made it  home with no problems, so did my road call.  But we each leaned on our own understanding, and that is when the trouble began.  Experience can be that understanding, and we all operate at different levels in the spirit.  And without the spirit leading, we get separated from God.  But Jesus came to reunite us to our heavenly Father, and all is forgiven.  And a testimony has been recorded to be shared.  The guy arranging the chairs on the Titanic just kept doing his job without thinking, with no regard to the futility.  It was about lives at that point, not seating arrangements or motorcycles yesterday.  It was about getting home safe, and both of us did yesterday.  The lifeboat God had provided got us where we needed to be, how many ignored the warnings and the Titanic was left with many empty lifeboats, and hundreds perished.   The people on the ship had ignored the crew’s orders, and died because of it.  Our refusal to listen to God may not end in death, but if we fail to turn to Jesus, we go to hell.  Where there are no icebergs. 
Seek God in your situation today, look to the cross instead of the problem.  Pray, listen, then obey.  You may be only up to your ankles, but the water is rising fast.  And in every situation God is able to come through.  But you need to follow him, and that takes faith, then obedience, then trust.  Funny how we trust someone we cannot see to save us, then fail to trust him when we get into trouble.  Sometimes help is the best prayer, and listen is the best answer.  But communication is still the best.  So spend some time in prayer with the Lord today, listen to him, and maybe avoid dangerous situations.  He knows what to do, where the tie downs are, and how to get us home safely.  A lesson of how to listen, and the how to guide others in their situation.  Then it is up to them to listen and obey...something out of your control.  Yesterday my old and new friends were busy rearranging chairs on their Titanics.  God knew the iceberg of a clutch cable was there, and sent me in a life boat, the Bonneville.  When God shows up in your next situation, don’t be afraid to get in with him. Even if it takes giving up your seat in the boat like Jesus did for us.  My panic started when I took my eyes off Jesus, and didn’t see my bike.  Fortunately Jesus saw the whole thing... lesson learned, all safe on shore.  Jesus saves bikers too, and sometimes from ourselves.  Aren’t you glad?  Think I’ll go for a ride.  After checking my clutch cable of course.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com