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Oils Well That Ends Well
by Jerry Ousley Many years ago (too many) I worked at a sawmill close to Deputy, Indiana. This was a small sawmill mind you, and they didn't have all the up to date equipment so the work was a bit harder. The owner made ends meet the best he could and part of making ends meet was using a homemade loader (the tractor-like vehicle that was used to load and unload logs). Naturally it took constant maintenance on this loader to keep it going. One day he had all of his employees (that was a total of 2) helping him work on the hydraulics of the loader. It involved lifting the forks as high as they would go, out as far as they would go, and one guy holding a wrench on the outside while the other guy (that was me) stood under the forks in-between the fork assembly and the loader itself. Everything was going well until the guy on the outside slipped with his wrench and knocked the hydraulic line off. If you know anything at all about hydraulic lines (I don't know much but I do know first hand about this) when the line is off the pressure is released. What was up comes down and what was in flows back out. In other words I found myself drenched in hydraulic oil while being slowly entrapped by those forks. "HELP! Get me out of here!" I yelled. The owner and the other employee managed to lift the forks enough for me to make my escape; however, when they saw that nothing was broken and how well "lubricated" I had become, needless to say, I became the joke of the day! They correctly began to call me "Slick." I "slid" through the rest of the day amidst all the "oily" jokes and innuendos and managed to maintain my composure, even "slipping" by some of them. My pride was definitely gone and humility became my constant companion. I am sure I needed that experience (hey I wouldn't be writing this article if it had never happened right?). God doesn't let anything happen to us for just no reason at all. It all becomes a lesson designed just for us. I'm sure many of you could relate situations just as comical and just as unusual because God gives us all these assignments in humility. It makes me feel very special sometimes that He cares so much for me that He allows these things to happen. We serve a great God Who definitely has a sense of humor. It sure makes for an interesting life. So the next time a "strange ooze" begins to "coat" your day, "lubricate" your emotions with the knowledge that God's Word is true and nothing is going to happen that you really can't handle within the will of God and you'll get through it (read Romans 8:28 - if nothing else remember me covered from head to foot with oil, have a good laugh, and enjoy the rest of your day, my compliments!). Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |