What’s The Worst That Can Happen?

The “SUCCESS” books tell you, “At some point you just have to trust your gut.”

My gut said, “Hit it with a hammer.”

The problem?

I was working on a steering linkage for a boat my son has.

It’s a straight forward set up. The long steering cable has a “set nut” at the end of it that allows you to connect the linkage to the motor.

Simple.

The one I was working on lined up correctly but did not have enough room to allow the threads of the nut catch the threads on the steer tube affixed to the motor.

With my eye’s it was clearly evident that the nut was not going to work.

I tried a few things, I called a few shops, and then I called a company I worked with years ago who specialize in all manner of boat parts.

They said, “No, I NEVER heard of one not threading on. That’s odd. Check the cable for markings, maybe it’s super old, the new one’s are all standard.”

So… I looked at it again. The cable was a “new” one. A standard one. So what the heck!?

“This just isn’t right.”

So… I looked again. Then remembered.

When I remembered removing it from the old motor, I remembered it didn’t come apart smoothly. “I wonder if I had to hammer on it to get it to come out?”

My gut said, “Hit it with a hammer, see if anything happens, what’s the worst that can happen?”

Looking at it with “my eye’s” it “seemed” that the nut was correctly placed onto the linkage cable.

BUT… the way it’s SUPPOSED TO WORK was being hindered by that placement… it could be plainly seen and looked correct. It lined up. It moved correctly. It just would not thread into place as required.

“Well… here goes nothing.”

In mechanic language what I actually applied to the nut is termed a… “technical tap.” It’s a real thing.

This one was a bit more than a tap. A quick, sharp, “WHACK!”

Huh!? Look at that.

The nut WAS misaligned after all. I must have really cranked on it getting it off of the old motor.

Bada Bing! The nut went right on! “Houston… we have steering!”

This provided me with a talking point for the new book I’m working on… “Before the Bible: What happens then?”

Talking point: Our life LOOKS like it’s correct. My eye’s confirm: “That’s just how it is.”

When a person has a new experience with God, that lights the fire laying dormant in his/her heart, and that person is older… one of the things that hinders us from moving forward and reading the bible to discover more of who God is… is that we can SEE how things are in our life; in our community; and in the world.

It looks correct.

Like that’s the way things are supposed to be. The good and the bad.

What we don’t realize is, is that our understanding and experience is limited.

We don’t REALLY know how it is ACTUALLY supposed to work. We don’t know about Gods plan for our life. How could we know it could be better?

Once I called the “professionals” who I knew… and trusted… I had to look at my boat issue in a different light.

“Knew… and trusted…” key words.

I went to, and called… “other” shops and techs. They didn’t give me any confidence, I was trying hard to “do it right,” and search out correct information.

It wasn’t until I called “my guy,” I thought, “If they don’t know, nobody’s gonna know.”

They gave me the confidence to trust the information that I could “SEE” on the boat… and to understand how “IT”S SUPPOSED TO WORK.”

As an adult, new comer, who has had an experience with the living God… in order to be confident in this new information we need that one person we trust… “our guy,” who we can call and ask the hard questions of what we are experiencing.

Spiritually his name is Jesus. We know who he is. We just haven’t spent enough time with him to trust him.

Worldly… his name might be a friend you have, that you know is a professed Christian, with a name like Paul; David; James; or Dewey.

Those guys, are usually like, “that one shop,” who’s been doing it for a long time and you trust them; their information; and their experience. BECAUSE of the relationship you have with them.

So if one, or more, of those guys tells you, “Start in the book of John, and stay in it, until something happens,” your trepidation, even though still there, is tempered by the trust you have with your friend.

And so… then… your bible journey begins.

And as you grow in your relationship with the Lord, and talk with your friend who helped you, you will hear, and maybe read these passages…

“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. ^6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ^7 For we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:5-7

And as you “grow as God causes you to grow,” you will come learn what the word “faith” truly means.

“Faith in the Lord…” a phrase that can be hard for new and old believers alike… comes to mean… “Having the absolute, utmost confidence in Him and His Word.”