When Dirty Harry told his boss, “a man’s got to know his limits,” he wasn’t
talking about his garage. Yet I know many who leave their cars out, and their
motorcycles, because they are so disorganized. Why would you let you new car or
precious ride out and keep junk and trash cans in the garage? Shouldn’t it be
the other way around? Every morning when my neighbor’s garage door goes up, I
see more junk he has to move to get his bike out, and ride past his new car.
Lousy priorities, and not using his garage as designed. Maybe having his
priorities in disarray, or a lack of faith, or a test to see how fast GM paint
fades in the hot afternoon sun, but with a little faith, it can be done. I
know, I do it every day, and have for years...
At the time we only had eight motorcycles, and Theresa’s car in the two car
garage. Room for her car is a must, so getting creative requires thinking
outside the box, or inside the box in this case. Now all our bikes run, and are
not found in boxes in kit form, so they take up space, but strategically
arranging them as they will be used takes some thought, thinking as the world
calls it. And in my half of the garage, things were packed tight. And were
about to get tighter when Sharon and Hiram came to visit, and left his Gold Wing
and trailer with us. Which had to be parked inside, remember the old request of
“room and board for a man and his mount?” It still applies today...and I got
them all in, and my son was able to get Hiram out when he returned. Some would
look at the bike and figure no way, the trailer even a bigger no way, and why
would any self respecting biker drag a motorhome behind them? But I saw the
way, and they all fit, and Theresa’s Mustang held its ground and stayed also.
Today we are down to only three bikes, with a new Mustang convertible, and the
garage looks bare, dreams of a Street Twin dancing in my head, and sometimes it
seems full when I have to move around them to get something...maybe full is in
he eye of the beholder. But as we know from experience, there is always room for
one more motorcycle. Trailers optional.
We are told we walk by faith, yet many of ride by faith. Faith leads us to
Jesus, the way to God his father. And scripture tells us of a man who was
paralyzed who wanted to meet Jesus, but the room was full, the entrance blocked,
and no fire marshal in sight to clear a way. So they hoisted him up to the
roof, no easy task, for just like a baby doubles in weight when you lift him,
adults do too. But up the stairs they carried him, only to find no entrance way
again. Yet these men did the unorthodox, and made a hole in the roof and
lowered him down. These men didn’t sit and whine, they didn’t form a committee
to study the situation, nor appoint a head and form a budget, they used faith
and determination, and got him in. They risked disapproval by the home owner,
please don’t try this at my house, and even interrupted the meeting and Jesus.
And Jesus didn’t rebuke them, he never does when faith draws you closer to him,
and when guided by the spirit. He made a way through the roof when the doors
were blocked. How many of us would have given up, or dared to be creative, even
risking the wrath of the home owner? They risked the costly, knowing someone
would have to pay for the roof, someone would have to repair it, yet they only
saw it as a barrier between them and a relationship with God. How far would you
go to bring a person to Christ? Are your obstacles physical, emotional, or
spiritual in depth? Do you have the faith to do what the spirit asks? If Jesus
says it will be done, his will will be done, at his cost. And even though we
have no record of the home owners response, we see a man healed, and a lesson in
faith. And in prayer....where action was substituted for words.
A few months back a friend and I talked after a Bible study, and he asked
for prayer. He had heart problems, was very sick, but had no insurance, so was
prepared to die. I told him “you don’t need prayer, you need to get to the
ER!” The church folk had already prayed for him, no one had the sense to call
the doctor. All they saw was he had no insurance. So I sent him to the ER, and
he got in, they signed him up on Medical, and after a few visits is fine. He
should have died, his pacemaker stopped, and he had some other problems, but God
had the way, through the ER. He had the answer before the others even prayed,
but they only saw no insurance. And waited, rather delayed looking for a
miracle, when the door to the ER was the one. Why did they believe about a man
being dropped through the roof, but couldn’t see the way through the front
door? And we call ourselves men of faith?
Yet Jesus is quoted as “seeing their faith,” when they cut the hole in the
roof, and lowered the man. How hard was it for me to tell him “go to the ER?”
It didn’t take a committee, no oil or annointing, no fasting, it took the spirit
to give the answer, which was there the whole time. It took faith, it took
action, and God did his part. Scripture tells us of this story, I fit more
bikes in my garage than it should hold, and my friend is alive and healthy, all
with a little faith in Christ. Which when the spirit intervenes, brings us
closer to him. My friend now tells the story of when he asked me to pray, I
told him go the ER. I was the answer that day, so I ask, why pray if you don’t
want an answer? If you don’t listen for one? God makes a way where they seems
to be no way, or when we think it is too tough, or when we miss the obvious.
James tells us to put feet to our faith, I put motorcycles in a garage, my
friend walked in the front door of the ER, and a man was lowered through a hole
in the roof. In each case we had a problem, and Jesus was the answer. We saw
the solution, not the situation, we looked to Jesus for the solution.
Dare to do the costly, lay it all on the line, trust God. And be an
incredible witness of bringing people to the Lord, and building your faith. Or
you could form a committee....while I am out riding. That is faith, garage
faith, which works with garages, roofs, and ER’s. He who has an ear let him
hear, and enjoy the ride. The tougher the task, the bigger the Jesus. A man’s
got to know his limits, unless that man is Jesus. Go on, let him make your
day...
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com