THE MACHINE CALLED LIFE

Now that our house is complete, my husband has set his mind to have the most perfectly smooth yard (several acres worth) possible. I was watching him operate the dozer a few days ago, anticipating what the yard will look like when we are able to sow the grass seed and it begins to grow.

I went in the house for something and when I came back out, he had moved to a different location out of my field of vision. I sat on the back porch reading a book and listening to the rhythmic accelerating and decelerating of the motor, until it dawned on me what he must be doing.

From the first day that we bought the farm, I had made it known that I wanted him to clean out from under a particular tree. We have several huge oak and pecan trees that line our driveway and one was excessively surrounded by undergrowth, a prominent eyesore.

Laying my book aside, I went to investigate. Sure enough, there he was clearing the small trees and bushes away. I stood and watched in amazement because with that massive machine, he was making the smallest movements, using just the edge of the colossal blade to manipulate a little tree which had grown up right next to the larger one.

His Papa, who he learned this skill from, would have been proud as he delicately worked to extricate the offending foliage. Finally, after all the pushing, pulling, prodding and wedging…success, without one bit of damage to my beloved tree.

Doesn’t God operate the same way with us? He sees our potential far in advance and He makes a plan to clean us up. He knows that we will eventually tower as a proud sentinel, even though for now we might not look like much. He is the Master Operator and uses the Machine called Life to push, pull, prod and wedge all of the useless encumbrances away from us.

So often, we try to flee from the groundwork that God is trying to accomplish. We are fearful that Life is out of control. No need to fear. God can be trusted to cause no damage. He is the Master Operator of this Machine called Life.