Flat Tire

 

This truck says it all for some days, doesn’t it? Weathered, old and a flat tire. But it is still a good truck. It no doubt has many more miles left in it. A new tire, a wash, maybe a little tweak of the engine and it will be back on the road.

Life can lead us to places where we feel weathered or old. We can feel as if we were doing fine, and then a flat tire stops us in our tracks. That is the nature of this life. The problem is that when we are in those moments, we can forget who we are. We can forget that we still have the same gifts and same heart. We can forget that we are still loved and valued by God. We can forget that we will be back on the road again.

Paul writes to the Romans, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 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.”

We don’t rejoice that we have sufferings; we rejoice that even in our sufferings God is with us and God is at work, even then. So to all those who feel a bit like the old truck, take heart. You are not alone. You are still you. You are still loved.

Peace.