Mechanical Mess Up

I am not what you would call “Mechanically Inclined.” So I was rather upset when I encountered lawnmower issues last week. Here’s how it went down: Our yard was starting to look pretty rough, so I decided to get out and go ahead and cut down the budding growth. Not so much grass, mind you, but lots of little early spring “weeds” that were taking over. I managed to get most of the front yard done, which was my main concern since it stands out on a busy road, and people see that. However, with about ten minutes of work left to go, I starting hearing a terrible grating sound from under the mower.

Thinking I may have run over something, I quickly shut the mower off. I detached the lead from the spark plug (which is a trick someone else had to teach me), and lifted the front end of the mower to see if anything was tangled around the blade. What I discovered was that part of the metal bracing under the mower had literally torn, and was in the path of the blade, thus accounting for the horrible sound. Realizing that I simply needed to bend the piece back out of the way, I grabbed a rubber mallet and a pry bar from my tools.

Very gently, I laid the mower on the side and quickly got the metal piece out of the way. Unfortunately, I forgot that laying the mower sideways is not the best suggestion, as oil then flowed from the exhaust area and left a pool on the front walkway.

I cleaned the oil up as best as I could, and then added a bit more to the engine, as I had lost some in the sideways mower maneuver. After reattaching the lead to the spark plug, I tried to pull the starter cord, and my arm just about tore away from my body. The cord would NOT move at all. It was totally jammed. I tried to slowly twist the blade a bit to see if that would help, and it did not. At this point, I realized that I had a real problem. At least for me on my own.

You see, there will come a time and place when we all encounter something that we are just not equipped to handle on our own. My limited knowledge of lawnmowers kept me from going any further to figuring out my problem. I will have to rely on the skills of others at this point. In our lives, we will bump up against issues and problems that seem WAY out of our grasp, and can leave us feeling hopeless.

However, God is always there to provide a way through difficult times. He gives us His Word to provide insight, the Holy Spirit to give us His constant presence, friends to be by our side as we work through the issues, and people we admire and respect from which to seek council and advice. There is always someone who can help you. Part of growing in our faith and spiritual life is learning that we can’t do it all on our own. If we could do it all, we would have no need for God or for Jesus. In His infinite wisdom, God has given us many tools that we can use to fix our problem. We just need to be willing to swallow our pride a bit, and ask for that help.

It’s mostly just inconvenient that I couldn’t finish mowing the front lawn...and if you drive by, you’ll see that it’s kind of funny-looking as well. I can’t help that. But, I do know that within a few days, I’ll have some help and get the problem solved. The good news is, maybe I’ll learn some new tricks to keep the mower running for a bit longer. I may never be as good with engines as some people, but every time the mower has given me trouble, the help I receive from others pushes me just a bit further in my own understanding. You think that same principle applies to other areas of life?