Shortcuts

​Tuesday on the Run
January 26 2016
 
                                                            Shortcuts
 
Writer, David McCasland tells about a woman whose car was stalled at an intersection:  The car’s hood was up, and the woman flagged down McCasland to help.  “I can’t get it started,” she said, “but if you jiggle the wire on the battery, I think it will work.”  McCasland grabbed the positive battery cable and it came off in his hand.  The cable was definitely too loose.
 
“The terminal needs to be tightened up,” he told her.  “I can fix it if you have some tools.”  “My husband says to just jiggle the wire,” she replied.  “It always works.  Why don’t we just try that?”  McCasland paused for a moment, sarcastically wondering to himself why her husband didn’t ride around town with her so he would be available when the wire needed jiggling.  Finally, he said, “Madam, if I jiggle the wire, you’re going to need someone else to do it every time you shut the engine off.  If you’ll give me two minutes and a wrench, we can solve the problem and you can forget about it.”   Reluctantly, she fumbled under the front seat and extended a crescent wrench through the window of the car.
 
As he tightened the battery terminal, it occurred to McCasland how many times he had tried, in his own life, to get a “quick fix” from God.  “I have this problem, Lord, and if you’ll just jiggle the wires, things will be okay.  I’m in a hurry, so let’s just get me going again the quickest way possible.”
 
Often, I believe God allows trouble to not only force us to look to Him for help, but to cause us to slow down and address some real problems.  When troubles come we should take time to examine our lives and our busy schedules.  Is God trying to realign our priorities or change our focus?  Maybe we are pursuing the wrong goals or chasing after the wrong dreams.
 
I consider my life verse to be Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”   Every now and then I need to stop and make sure the compass is still pointing true north and that the “Kingdom of God and His Righteousness” is still my focus.  Which way is your compass pointing?
 
Have a great week!
 
Pastor Barry
 
P.S.  Invite someone to the War Room Movie on Saturday, January 30th at 6 PM