Spark plugs and Faith!

I was thinking about my childhood recently and remembered that I was about 11 when it happened.

My 10 year old brother and I were out mowing the lawn and could not keep the lawnmower going. Every time we would start to push the machine the thing would die on us. My Dad was at work and so my brother and I decided we would try to solve the problem.

We looked high and low and fiddled with the mower for a bit to no avail. Finally I glanced down and noticed the spark plug and that the little attachment was off. I put the metal ring back on the plug and we started the mower for a few seconds before it popped off again and the mower died.

I came up with the, ahem, ingenious idea of holding the wire onto the spark plug while my brother started the lawnmower. Now, in my defense, I was not to mechanically inclined back then. So as I was hlding the spark plug my brother gave the string a pull and I was knocked on my backside by the electrical current! Not keying in on what happened I repeated the experiment again......and again.......and again.

Finally the light dawned and I realized what I was doing wrong. So I gave up and waited for my Dad to get home.

Same thing happens in my faith walk. I try to fix things on my own and make them worse. Sometimes I have to get knocked onto my backside a few times before I realize I am trying to do things in my own strength. I then have to willingly let the Father handle it.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5)