Don’t give up?

(About a 3 min read… the end is the best part…)

I’m not a quitter by nature… there’s something inside me that just doesn’t stop… maybe it’s the past failures, or possibly the need to impress… or maybe it’s me “doing to be” instead of “being to do”… one thing I do know well, however, is that I can’t quit… until last week…

I gave up…

I bought an old truck… it was a Toyota 4Runner, 1998… it ran like a champ… but looked like a champ as well… I like old vehicles…. I like to tinker and improve them…

As it can go with being a father… sometimes things that are meant to be a toy… like a 1998 4Runner… becomes your daily driver… and it seems like, more often than not, when old truck break down, they do it at the most inconvenient times…

In this case, my brakes went out along with my starter… so, like the tinkerer I am, I bought the parts to do the work myself… amongst delayed jobs, a snow storm, road work on our street, and preparation for a holiday… I finally had a moment to grab my tools… and head out to take care of it…

Let’s talk about “taking care of it”… the Bible says “cast your cares…” NOT to take them…

However… I TOOK care…

As I dove into loosen very hidden and very stuck bolts, I began to feel “the grace” lift from me… this truck became a sudden burden… instead of a joy to do it, it was really hard to not get frustrated…

Finally, after about an hour of chemicals, torches and banged up hands… I got the bolts loose… but the starter was trapped… trapped inside a Pandora’s box of parts that interfered with me completing the job…

I heard the Holy Spirit say… “You’re Done…” to which I replied in frustration “NO I’M NOT!!”… and I huffed in frustration on my inability to finish the task… Holy Spirit then said “I think you need to give this up… to me…” so I stood up… went into the house and told my wife… “I’m done…” I called AAA to have my car towed to a mechanics shop in town and that was that…

This was the first time in my life that let a shop mechanic fix my vehicle… it was a surrender of power for me…

This year has been a season of giving up… or better said “letting go…” much of my life has been in my own control… and little by little, the Lord encourages me to let go and let Him lead…

Thanks for listening…

🤍

If you’d like to read more stories like these, you can visit:

Amburnministries.com/blog