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