06
License To Thrive!
Jon Burgess33Be on guard! Bealert and pray! You do not know when that time will come.34It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Mark 13:33-34
Jesus is setting us up for success by reminding us that discipleship is about discipline in the details. He uses the example of the owner of the house giving each of his servant's detailed tasks in preparation for his return. The biggest key to thriving as a servant of the Lord is to watch! Three times in three verses He tells us to watch for Him.
There's no doubt that the Department of Motor Vehicles is all about the details! Elijah had saved up and bought his first vehicle and had completed his driver's training and obtained his permit. Now all he had to do was take the road test. How hard could that be? A lot harder then any of us imagined. The first trip out we found out that his printed out insurance wouldn't count. The second time out we found out that even the when it was printed out directly from out insurance it didn't count, it had to be the plastic card in the mail. The third time outwe found out his car he bought had joint ownership and only the husband had signed the pink slip... and they were military and had already moved to the mainland. Both needed to sign for it to belong to him. Oh, and, because they were military he needed to pay the $350 vehicle registration fee. The fourth time out we had the brake lights fixed the day before and then, naturally, they stop working when we pull up to the DMV. The fifth time out all the paperwork and vehicle maintenance was in order. Elijah was finally able to take the actual road test. Which, sadly, he failed. He wasn't watching his speed, the line at the stop light, or the mirrors often enough. So many tiny details that added up to a heartbreaking fail. This morning was the sixth attempt at a drivers license. This meant yet another early morning trip all the way to Kapolei from Aina Haina. Sixth time's the charm! He Face-Timed me with a grin from ear to ear sitting behind the wheel (before starting the engine of course) with a brand new license in hand. He will be driving to school for the first time on his own! How will it go from here no that he is driving? It all has to do with how often he is watching. All of those frustrating details the DMV held us to were for his training not torture. It was to drive home the very point that Jesus is sharing with us here in Mark 13. If you want to do more then just survive. If you want to actually thrive in your faith, it's all about the details. Pay attention, watch out, be alert to what God has called you to do on a daily basis. Don't ever shift into neutral. Don't pick up your cell phone when you should be watching the road. Remeber that feeling when you first got your license? What a freedom. What a thrill. What a responsibility. I was so happy to run errands for my folks. We should never get used the privilege we've been given to serve God with our gifts. We are supposed to to be thrilled every day we get up to hit the road and share the load with our Lord. So, watch out world, Elijah is on the road and so are we. This is a good thing as long as we are watching and praying and paying attention to the detailed directions of our instructor.
Lord, thank You for giving Elijah success today at his driver's test. I pray for Your angels around him and for an alertness as he drives. I pray that I too would be alert and ready for what You are saying and doing. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the vision, where I'm going down the road, that I miss the details that will ensure that I can get there safely. I don't know when You are coming back for us, but I wantto be ready and have a car load of people coming with me!
