God’s Toolbox

I guess you could say I’m a do-it-yourselfer.  Something breaks at home?  I’m on it.  Need something built?  I’ll do it.  Car breaks down?  Leave it to me.  This is probably equal parts “I enjoy working with my hands” and “I’m too cheap to hire someone else to do it”.  Maybe a bit more the latter.  Anyhow, our van recently needed a minor repair.  I say “recently”, but what I really mean is that I finally decided to do the repair that my van had needed for some time.  Which brings us around to my cycle of automotive work, step by step:

1. Discover a repair or maintenance job that needs to be done
2. Resolve to fix it – probably sometime in the future
3. Finally get around to fixing it
4. Look into how to do it
5. Dive into the job
6. Recognize that I don’t have a tool or a part needed
7. Buy said tool or part
8. Recognize that I’m in way over my head and may not be able to complete the job
9. Get very frustrated
10. Arrive at some major breakthrough that allows the job to be completed
11. Finish up, “confident” in the fact that I had it all along

In the most recent case, the job at hand was a simple wheel stud replacement, which turned into replacing the entire hub.  And, unbeknownst to me, even that job had its challenges, since removing the old hub from the flange requires a significant amount of force, the proper alignment of all planetary bodies, and one or two acts of congress.  Okay, so maybe that’s an exaggeration, but there are videos on YouTube that demonstrate this process, and they are nothing more than a guy pounding with all his might for ten minutes or so.

It turns out that method works.

After completely soaking the assembly in penetrating catalyst, setting it up on bricks, and completely destroying the ABS sensor housing, I managed to pound the hub out of the flange.  It felt like a miracle… happening on Christmas… and my birthday.  Even now, the old hub is still sitting in my driveway, a warning to all other hubs that we will not tolerate their evil ways around here.

Why do I share this?  Well, I’m still thinking on the topic of transformation.  “Transformation” sounds like a beautiful and exciting process, but it may be the figurative version of the process I just described.  God may have to dig deep, cut close, and pound hard to bring about real change in us.  But, like the moment my old hub finally let go, the results are amazing.

1 Peter 4:12-13 [NASB]: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

Let’s let God do His work in us, so that we may rejoice!