A BIG TRUCK WITH A BIG ENGINE
A little car with a little engine is the contrast.
I remember driving a itty-bitty car that was all it could do to on the highway, with the pedal to the metal, and that poor thing could barely accelerate to merge into traffic on the highway.
This is a picture I want to put in your mind.
Yesterday I helped my youngest son, Noah, and his wife, Ashlyn, move from Starkville to Clinton.
Here we are cheesing for the camera.
I rented a U-Haul truck. Bigger than I thought we might need. There was plenty of room. The pleasant surprise was that this big truck had a powerful engine that was commensurate with its size.
I was surprised that, in the area of acceleration and power driving this BIG TRUCK, there was more than enough Power to motivate it down the road.
Even after we loaded it up, the truck had more than enough power.
My brain was in awe for a moment, because I have driven such trucks that it felt like it was barely going to make it.
As I was zooming down the road to get back before the U-Haul store closed, I had a thought.
THIS BIG TRUCK WITH ITS BIG ENGINE is like Faith for the Believer.
“God will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able…”
Faith in God is more than sufficient to motivate you down the road.
We are saved by grace through faith.
Life and its heavy loads are not more than what grace and faith can empower you to overcome, enabling you to move from one place to another.
In times of transition.
With a truck fully loaded.
This morning, I am in awe of God's grace.
“ And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
My wife and I recently went on our first ride on our E-Bikes.
My wife has ridden a traditional “pedal-powered” bike for years. I would never suffer myself to do that, because, well, I would be walking it up every hill, gliding down every hill.
However, the e-bike, I pedal under power. When I pedal, it engages a boost that adds to everything I do. If I pedal hard, it will power me fast, faster than I could do under my own power. When I reached a 20% grade over half a mile long, I would never have made it, never, if not for the assistance from the engine and the energy integrated into the contraption I was riding.
My wife is used to a 100% self-powered bike. She made a statement after the ride, “Going up that hill, and then I felt my help coming.”
Ha!
This is another picture of “Saved by grace through faith.”
We are not alone, it’s not only our energy and effort. God steps in and empowers us to overcome and be victorious over every difficult trial or trail, even every tall mountain.
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37 & 39
I rejoice today, “I am saved by grace through faith!”
In Him, By Him, Through Him,
Scott A. Phillips