Talking to Mr. Mower

I never knew that lawnmowers could talk. Well, I never really heard the lawnmower talk but I did hear Pastor Jim talking to his “Red Machine”. Maybe lawnmowers can only hear? Anyway, Pastor Jim wasn’t happy with Mr. Mower. It seems Mr. Mower was broken and wasn’t cooperating with Pastor Jim. One of Mr. Mower’s bolts wouldn’t come out and Pastor Jim was not very happy. He warned Mr. Mower that he was about to end up in the junkyard but Mr. Mower wasn’t buying it.

After several one-sided conversations, Pastor Jim put the tools away and took me into the house. He cleaned up and poured himself a large glass of ice tea and plopped down in the easy chair. We both sat there for thirty minutes, not saying a thing. Finally I broke the silence. “We’re not mowing the lawn today?” I asked.

“No Bear,” Pastor Jim answered softly. “Not today.”

“Did you fix Mr. Mower?”

“No Bear. Mr. Mower is still broke,” replied Pastor Jim.

“You couldn’t fix him?” I meekly asked.

“No Bear, I couldn’t fix him. You see sometimes you run across things you cannot fix or you cannot fix at that time. It’s sometimes better to quit trying because you’re so frustrated that you end up breaking it more.” Pastor Jim paused for a moment and then continued; “You should never try to solve a problem when you’re anger. Anger is a powerful emotion that if not held in check can cause a lot of problems. We will try fixing the lawnmower tomorrow.”

That night after Pastor Jim had went to bed; I gave a lot of thought to what Pastor Jim said. I thought about all the people that are broken whose life has been messed up because of sin. They, like Mr. Mower, often fight the Lord who is trying to fix them. That must be why the Bible says that God is longsuffering and patient.

Thankfully the Lord does give up on them just like Pastor Jim didn’t give up on his “Red Machine.” You see the next day Pastor Jim was back with some help from the church and Mr. Lawnmower was fixed. So if you have someone that you love who is fighting against the Lord, don’t worry. The Lord won’t give up and that is the Bear Truth.