Faith Automatic vs Manual Transmission

Faith

Automatic vs Manual Transmission

If you are used to driving an automatic transmission

Where you let the transmission do all the work

Be careful because in life you will need to know how to shift gears 

Sometimes you will need to shift out of depression

By putting on the garment of praise

When your faith is tested and you start cruising in hopelessness, shift gears

And considering it pure joy because your driving skills of faith are being tested 

Exercise your faith, don’t just expect it to be automatic  

Remember cars with Manual Transmissions are made for fun

But don’t get reckless     

 

Automatic vs Manual Transmission

Growing up we did not have a car.

The bicycle was my transportation.

  

From the time I was in the 6th

grade I had 2 jobs at a time.

I delivered papers on an 8 mile

route of over 100 customers.

 

I also bathed dogs and rode

my bike 6 miles one way.

 

So when I turned 16, I got my

temporary driver’s license.

I bought a 1967 Honda 50cc motorcycle that was legal

to drive without a licensed driver being with me.

My little Honda 50 had 4 manual speeds.

 With my toes, I would lift the shifter up for

first gear and down for the other three.

Eventually I got my first car, a

1965 Dodge Barracuda fast back.

It was three speeds that were

shifted on the steering column.

When I bought the car I went

 straight to the gas station to fill up.

When I got home the gas gauge read half tank,

I looked under the car and the tank was raining gas.

I was working second shift and

after work I put in another tank.

Some of the boys from across the street

 were hanging out while I did the work.

   

These boys were big and when I was done

with the installation it was time for a test drive.

So we all wedged into the car.

I will never forget that night…

 We drove down our side

street and onto the main road.

The temptation over took me

to show off my shifting skills.

I wound out first gear and power shifted

into second and something blew…

Every tooth in the rear end was sheared off.

Humbly and sadly, we all got out

of the car and pushed it home.

 I only had that car for a month when a drunk

driver turned his truck in front of me.

Shifting gears was fun, but for

every day driving it was a pain. 

My next car was an automatic…

A real grandma’s car with four doors.

Many have never felt a clutch

or shifted gears because most

cars do it automatically for you.

You just get in the car and your

left foot goes into retirement.

I remember my first cars did not come

with cruise control and installing

the sensors and magnets so my right

foot could go into retirement.

We now have cars that drive themselves.

Some of us like to shift gears…

 But most of us like it when life

is just taking care of itself.

Routines are established and we don’t

have to think about where we are going.

It is not that we don’t want to shift a gear

once in a while, like try a new restaurant

or replace an old car or plan a vacation…

These are the fun shifts in our lives.

But sometimes we are put in

situations where we have to shift.

We have to make changes and when you

are facing a mountain in your life…

It takes work to just sit at a light.

The manual transmission does not keeping you

at the light as you keep your foot on the brake.

You have to not only hold the brake,

 but work the clutch and gas at the same

time to keep from rolling backwards…

Two feet, three peddles.

And it is not just one light, it is many lights.

And it seems as if they are all

timed to be red when you get there.  

I think many of us think life should be automatic.

 Everything should just work out.

Just eat, drink and be merry.

Life is rarely automatic.

We need to be proactive.

 Things don’t always take care of themselves.

Proverbs and Ecclesiastes tell us…

 The fields we work in, the houses

we live in, need attention…

They don’t just get better, they depreciate.

Jesus said…

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!

I have overcome the world." 

John 16:33

Shifting gears because we have to

take care of the issues of life…

 Like work and our houses can be stressful.

The troubles of this world brings stress.

We need to realize shifting in life is normal.

Decisions need to be made.

There are things we cannot ignore.

When we become stressed…

 When depression moves in like a cloud,

 we need to know how to shift.

When we have to make some hard choices…

We need to know how to shift gears.

God promises to give us everything

pertaining to life and godliness.

It is true…

 God supplies all our needs

according to His riches in glory.

But it is not all automatic.

We need to know how to shift.

 

There are two basic things

you need to know to shift…

First, the shift pattern and when to shift.

The second is timing of when to use the clutch.

For us to know the patterns and

timing, we have to know God’s Word.

I know this sounds like a cliché…

 But it is true.

Ask yourself the question…

 How often do you read the Bible and

take time to meditate on what you read?

Jesus said He came to give us peace.

If my lack of peace is a gauge to

Jesus’ promises, than Jesus is a liar.

So if I can’t get into the gear of peace

I must be doing something wrong.

Generally, what is wrong

is we do not want to shift.

Like Isaiah 61:3…

 

… provide for those who grieve in Zion — …

a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

Shifting gears means I have to put the garment

of praise on when I don’t feel like it.

Or, James 1:2-3…

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

 whenever you face trials of many kinds,

 because you know that the testing of

your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance has everything to do with timing.

Your faith driving skills improve

as you consider your trial an

opportunity for God to work in your life.

A lack of joy can cause negative

thinking and as a result poor judgment.

For you and I, to shift through life,

we need peace and joy before we get there.

Shift out of despair, self-pity,

anger, hopelessness, laziness.

Shift into the gear of peace and joy

because God has given us hope. 

Exercise your faith…

 Don’t just expect it to be automatic.

Remember cars with Manual

Transmissions are made for fun…

But don’t get reckless!      

  

  

Scripture Reading

Proverbs 24:30-34 NIV

30 I went past the field of the sluggard,

past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;

31 thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins.

32 I applied my heart to what I observed

and learned a lesson from what I saw:

33 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest — 

34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit

and scarcity like an armed man.  

Ecclesiastes 10:18 NIV

18 If a man is lazy, the rafters sag;

if his hands are idle, the house leaks.

John 16:33 NIV

33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."