Holding Onto Faith

“Holding On To Faith”

M. B. “Bud” Fields, Jr.
Copyright©2007 Grand Organ Productions, LLC

I do not understand how automobile engines work. Airplane engines mystify me.

My next-door neighbor is, right this moment, out in front of my house, attempting to replace a water pump on his van. He spoke kindly with me for a few moments, gently explaining the entire process to me.

Well, at least I believe he was speaking kindly to me. From the inflections of his dialect, it seemed as though he were speaking kindly to me. I could not swear to this in a Court of competent jurisdiction, however.

Explaining to me the workings of an engine (or integral part thereof), much less the internal, external, geographic and/or universal ramifications of such a fete is like dressing up a Pig in a Tux! It makes no sense, has no lasting effect or value, and does nothing to increase my knowledge of—anything! I don’t get it! I do NOT understand it.

I drove a truck (big rig) for some 10 years. I had to purchase what they call a “Set of Tools", and keep it in my truck. I bought it, and I kept it in my truck’s side-box. They were all shiny and new when I bought them. The seal was unbroken when I cleaned out my truck for the last time. I was expressly forbidden by my Shop Foreman from EVER using them—EVER! He would check the seal every time my truck was in the Shop. He is, you see, a very wise man, my Shop Foreman.

Giving me a tool, and expecting me to use it correctly is no less dangerous than giving a baby a loaded gun. The fear is the same, and the anticipated outcome is exactly the same: some innocent person is gonna get hurt! Something’s gonna get “broke”, and some over-worked, over-stressed, and under-paid "Shop" guy is gonna have to fix it!

Tools do things wondrous to behold. In the right hands, they cause things of potential to become kinetic reality. In the wrong hands, they are dangerous. If you don’t know how to correctly use the correct tools, at the correct time, for the correct purpose you will have—at the very least—an outcome YOU could not anticipate. Sometimes, knowing what you do not know is the greater part of Wisdom.

Trying to explain to the red-faced Shop Foreman what you “intended” to do is not the best way, I have found, to discourage his overwhelming urge to make certain tools (and drivers) seem to disappear! Do you have any idea how large a diesel truck wrench is? Ah, the lessons of experience.

When a tool is used correctly, however, miraculous things happen. The switch works, and the lights come on. The truck runs again, and the toast can actually be consumed by humans. (Yes, it is really that simple sometimes.) The potential of a thing becomes kinetically realized. Cars move, toasters toast, lights shine, and Shop foremen do not have to purchase a new rachet extension to replace the one they heaved in your direction!

It is a miracle to me that you can replace, repair, or re-furbish anything! Yet, new belts go around pulleys, and the pulleys produce torque, which causes the tires to spin. That’s kind of difficult for someone with my mechanically-challenged brain to really understand. I have learned not to attempt to understand these things. I will leave the mechanicin' to the mechanics. Yet, I do know the very best diesel mechanic in the business. His name is Max. He is my friend.

When a tool releases potential, it produces kinetic results. As the potential is transformed into the kinetic, new potential replaces it so long as the engine works. That is how (I am told) batteries work more than once. The battery stores power for use by the engine. The Alternator, via belts, replaces that power as the battery is used. How? I have no idea!

The cycle repeats itself over and over, and over again. Well, it does so long as the belts work. (Did you know there is a very special tool whose sole purpose is to tighten fan belts?)

As you are driving down a dark and lonely road at night, you notice your headlights shining in front of you, showing you the way. Do you offer up a silent prayer of thanksgiving for the belt-tightening tool? Or, even the mechanic? I don’t. I say a prayer of thanks for the brilliance of the beams of the bright lights.

May I offer you just a simple example?

Let us say I were to have a brand shiny, new car parked in front of my home (and I do NOT!), and my friend noticed that it seemed never to be used. What do you think his response would be if my reply was that I did not want to “use up” the power in the battery? Or, if I said to him that I didn’t want to use up all the gas in the tank? What if my reply to his question was that I didn’t want to use up all the rubber on the tires? What would you think of me then?

You would probably think things of me that should not be written in a public place (not even a Men’s room!). At the very least, you might run quickly to the Merriam and/or Webster’s porch and try to find the definition of the word “addlepated”.

If so, you might discover this:

addlepated
A adjective
1 addlebrained, addlepated, potty, puddingheaded, muddleheaded

stupid and confused; used especially of persons; "blathering like the addlepated nincompoop that you are"; "a confused puddingheaded, muddleheaded fellow"- Isaac Sterne

Adapted From: WordNet 2.0 Copyright 2003 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

I guess it just depends on your understanding of things.

I must confess, there have been a very few rare moments when I had the same opinion of myself—myself.

“Cling to your Faith!”

“Hold on to your faith!”

“Keep the faith!”

Faith, for the faithful, is the stored up potential, not the kinetic reality! Faith, used correctly, is nothing more or less than a useful tool of the righteous. It produces, when used, the miraculous! It emboldens the Spirit, strengthens the Word, and justifies the Testimony. The potential released through the appropriate application of Faith is the unlimited kinetic realtiy that IS the Blessing of God!

The Bible tells us that “to each is given a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

How have we—somehow--convinced ourselves that there can only be 12.5 gallons of “gas” in our “tank”?

Because a battery (and I know, because I have diligently researched this! Today, even.) has an amperage rating of, for instance “5”, do we truly believe that, once the 5 Amps have been conducted through the terminals that the battery must be replaced?

Man! No wonder those mechanics charge so much! Remember the belt? As the amperage goes out, and is used by the engine, the kinetic replaces the potential to its fullest level, where it is always available when needed, or called upon, by the engine!

But, this isn’t even the most important fact to notice—no, not at all! Because of this truth, THE TIRES MOVE!

(Wipes brow with a shop towel. Just don't ask where I got it. Rachet extensions hurt!)

Do NOT hold onto your Faith!! Do not “cling” to it, or “struggle” in it. Faith is nothing less than the potential of God in your life, and in His World! And, please, for God’s very sake, do NOT “keep” your Faith. It is nothing less than rebellion against God!

Expend your Faith! USE your Faith! You cannot use it up! You can get low, for sure. When you do, the Giver of the potential “re-charges” your battery. He happily, and gratefully “restores” your Faith, and returns to you the same (or more!) potential as you have used. Wield your Faith without apology! Give it to your loved ones, or a friend—or even a stranger! Send your Faith into the battle! Light your Faith on fire, as a glistening candle in the darkness! USE your Faith mightily, and be amazed as the potential of your Faith unleashes the overwhelming, incredible power of the kinetic splendor of God!

Do we worship the mechanic? Do we memorialize his tools? Do we silently pray for fan belts? Or, do we stand in awe as the bright light beams before us, lighting the way down a narrow path in the darkness of night?

The next time you find yourself wondering about God, or where He is, or why He isn’t doing more in this World, you may just have a moment to consider. Are YOU keeping His potential locked away, inside your small measure of Faith?

My truck weighed around 80,000 pounds when loaded. It could be stopped by something as small and insignificant as a fan belt. How much bigger, then, is the potential of God within each one of us? And, what stops us? Holding on to our Faith does.

         “Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house.” (Matthew 5:15)

         “No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they which enter in may see the light.” (Luke 11:33)

Exercise your Faith. Give it away until you think there is not one drop of it left! Be quick to share your Faith. Send out your small measure of Faith until you are depleted of it. Watch the incredible, never-ending supply of God’s power, mercy, and grace as He returns it to you.

         “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)

Do not ponder,or worry, or fret about how much Faith you have. The promise of God is that even a little Faith—even a measure of Faith as small as a mustard seed is entirely enough to say to that Mountain “Be Moved!”, and it will move!

         " Because of your little faith: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Luke 17:20)

Does your Faith MOVE the mountain? No! God does, in direct response to the measure, depth, and conviction of your Faith. And, as the old Gospel song says: “Little is much, when God is in it!”

Give away, expend, expel, consume, entirely empty, and USE your Faith! The World needs you to do so very, very badly. And, Dad is waiting.

Soli Deo Gloria!