We have one other new experience to share in our world that is perfect for this series. In December, we bought a new (to us) truck. It’s a great truck and one that I am really pumped about. I’ve always thought I wanted one, but my Camaro was cooler in high school and college, and I couldn’t afford anything else right after graduation, and then family demands held us hostage in the minivan game, so I have been very content to go without.
God has blessed us with vehicles all throughout our married life and we are and have been undeniably grateful and at peace with our vehicle situation. We’ve had to spend some money on repairs and of course maintenance, and certainly have had our woes with engines and transmissions, but we’ve always had something reliable to drive and people sharing generously when we didn’t.
This is how it was for about a year. All of 2022, we had just one vehicle as we sold our other van. (Yes, we had two minivans at one point; same make, model, and even color!) But, we didn’t have a ton of cash to buy something else, didn’t want two payments, and also didn’t know exactly what we wanted. So, we started looking…and kept looking…and borrowing…for OVER 1 Year! And finally felt like we were in a place to make it happen and found a vehicle that fit what we had settled on wanting! It even came with a few more perks.
Here’s the deal. It came with built in character. In order for this vehicle to be in our price range at all, we had to compromise on something. This just happened to be a particularly blatant gash down the driver’s side, starting at the handle of the rear door going through the gas cap and all the way beyond the wheel well. It is merely a flesh wound, but it is salty.
And I love it. It suits us perfectly, reflects our lives, and speaks to a few truths about myself, humanity, scripture, and God.
Here’s what I see in our new (old) truck:
Scars, scratches, and sizable blemishes most often do not affect the function, the character, or the potential of the thing (or person).
As these flaws reduce the marketplace value, they in no way take away from the worth of its capabilities.
Mistakes can be glaring, awful, and extreme and the effects, lasting. Though they may feel like they are life-ENDING they are simply life-ALTERING. We learn and grow from these mishaps. Although we may bear their stories for years to come, they will not prevent us from doing remarkable things in the future!
Jacob was just this kind of a truck in the Old Testament. He was in the ancestral line through which God brought about the Savior of the world, God’s son, Jesus. But Jacob had a couple of major blemishes.
First, Jacob stole the birthright from his older brother and then second, he tricked his dad into giving him the family blessing instead of his brother. Basically, he cheated and connived his way from the 2nd to 1st in his family ladder. And this left him with some deep internal and heart issues –engine and transmission types of problems – while maintaining good looks on the outside.
But eventually the motor shut down and left him doing some rebuilding work. In this overhaul, he took a really good beating that left him with a visible wound and some external flaws just like our truck. Jacob walked with a limp after this life-altering encounter with God, but his core was good and soul was intact. The mistakes he made along the way were not life-ending, although they very well could have been. He bore the marks of a less than perfect life but ended up with a peace and a lasting legacy in the eternal sense. (Read Jacob’s story in Genesis 25-35.)
So, may I encourage you today, to lean into and learn from your mistakes, and know they are not life-ending. But what good are they unless you let them be life-altering? And may you discover your greatest potential lies in what is yet to become, not in what was before the downfall. It just may require some new thinking and alternative living!
Jesus paid for your soul when he died on the cross, blemishes and all! There’s a lot more life left in you than you might think or give yourself credit. But you gotta let Jesus restore your core!
#NewGetsOld
#BoughtWithBlemishes
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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