Running Well

Have you ever throught a million thoughts in the matter of 30 seconds? That happened to me recently while driving home from work. I was doing so very excitedly I might add—I love the feeling of heading home after work—I love home. Anyway, I was driving along and singing, again very excitedly, to That’s The Thing About Praise by Ben Hastings, when a sound from my car sent my mind reeling. It sounded like the bottom of my car was about fall out as I was driving, and it had just been running so well. The sound was so loud and gut-wrenching, like a demonic screech coming out from down below. My happy, singing mind was perplexed. Like I said, a million thoughts in 30 seconds.

“What is that sound? What should I do? Try to make it home? What if the bottom falls out? What if I break down in the middle of that two-lane section of the road with guardrails where I can’t pull over? How are we going to get this thing to Louisville to get it fixed? We can’t drive it like this all the way to Louisville. Oh my gosh, we’ll have to get it towed. What is that noise? Should I pull over here? Should I pull over there? I’ll pull into my in-law’s driveway, it’s right here! Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, and I’ll call Eric and he can be the one who gets stuck at the section with only two lanes and guardrails.”

So, that’s what I did; I pulled into my in-laws’ driveway. Eric came like a knight in shining basketball shorts, socks, and sandals. He laid down on the ground to look under the car. He checked to see if something was dragging but nothing was there or out of place. He hopped in my car, and I hopped in his. When he went to back up, there it was: the horrific, demonic, make your heart pound sound. He looked at me with big eyes and we both got out of the vehicles. He asked me to get in my car and back up a little while he stood outside to see if he could figure out where the sound was coming from. I backup up. Eric squatted down. I remained in the car. He fetched something out of his car and then started investigating my back passenger-side wheel. After several minutes he stood up and asked me to back up again. I did as I was asked but this time the demon sound was gone! He came to the window and said, “I found what it was,” holding up one, very tiny, pebble. This small pebble had gotten stuck in the brake pad, making a sound that will never leave my memory. I really thought the bottom was about to fall out of my car. The constant rubbing on the metal disc caused the tiny pebble to have a flat, shiny edge where it had been forced against the metal disc.

This tiny pebble got my mind to thinking about how the smallest thing can sometimes make a big impact, in the matter of a few seconds. It’s up to us if it’s a positive or negative impact. Take a leap through the pages of your Bible with me and let’s land at the book of Galatians chapter 5 verses 7 through 9.

You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth? This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.

In this scripture Paul is warning the Galatians of false teachings. They were running so well in their faith. How could they turn to the false noise so quickly?  He was instructing them that just a little belief in the wrong thing can smother out the truth completely. I can sit here and type out the words that I would never fall for false teachings, yet I fear I would be typing a lie. You see, I fall for my very own false teachings on the regular.

I start my day off great, running well, and then I catch a tiny pebble and all the noise starts. The noise of insecurity, annoyance, or impatience gets to me. One little negative thought can ruin my whole thought process and sometimes even my whole day. To be completely honest with you, I know many of these thoughts are rooted in selfishness. For that reason, selfishness is the tiny pebble that keeps me from running well. It is a false teacher.

Now that I’ve admitted that, take one more quick leap down a few verses to verse 13.

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but serve one another through love.

When I allow myself to be overcome by the negative, all anyone sees is the fleshly side of me. Like the dull, rough side of that tiny pebble. But if I allow the little annoyances to become an act of love, then not only will they rub me shiny like the brakes did to the pebble, but I’ll be also living out one of Jesus’ best and greatest commands, to love your neighbor as yourself.

Earlier I admitted a negative side of me, now I’m going to admit a positive side. One I haven’t always recognized as a gift, but it’s one that keeps me selfless and not selfish. I love giving people gifts. It’s one of my favorite things—worship being my #1 favorite thing. In any conversation with someone, I’ll store away little details they’ve shared and that becomes my shopping list. I want to make people feel special, make them feel heard and seen. By doing this, my eyes and ears are on others, not myself. Just like how Eric came and took the noise away, gifting is a noise stopper for me.

This is what Jesus did for us when he gave himself on the cross. His eyes were on us, not himself. May his example work its way through all of us. May we not let the tiny pebble bring us down, but let’s find the shine in every situation.