jumper cables

You know that sick feeling you get when you climb into your car and turn the key, only to discover that the roar of the engine you were expecting was not going to happen? We have all had it happen at one time or another…a dead battery. I was at a local coffee shop and had been studying for several hours when I got ready to leave and found my car in just such a predicament. Something had sucked all the power from the battery and there wasn’t enough juice to make it turn over and go.
I had jumper cables in the back of the car, but just because I had cables didn’t mean I could fix the problem. I needed help. I needed another car to link my cables up to and to jump me off. So, I crossed the parking lot and approached an older couple that was leaving, asking them if they had time to help. He pulled up in his Lexus and proceeded to hook my cables up to his car and then to mine. I climbed into the car and turned the key….nothing. The gentleman climbed into his car, revved his engine and we let the cars sit for a minute. Then he told me to try again. I turned the key….nothing…and then, wait…a noise. So I turned again and the engine roared to life. Leaving the car running, the gentleman unhooked the cables. He spoke maybe 5 words the whole time, but was so gracious to help. I told him thank you and he loaded up and left. Problem solved.
Driving away from the coffee shop, I couldn’t help but be thankful for the linkage of jumper cables that got me moving again. And then it hit me…linkage is so important. There are days when all of us have dead batteries. When we are weary and worn, no go juice, no power and no ability to get going on our own. We are dead in the water. We might even have the right tools to fix that problem. A Bible or a book, prayer and a family or church that loves us. But in that moment, what we need is more than the right tool. We need help. We need another. We need to link up and draw strength, power and presence from another. We need to hook our cables up and rev the engine and allow the power from another to fill us up and to give us what we need to get back on the road again. We need to be jumped off.
It would be easy for us to draw the conclusion that we need to link up with Jesus, hook our cables to Him and let Him be our strength. That is the obvious conclusion to the story. AND it would be TRUE. We do need to be linked, to let Him be strong in our weakness. He is our ultimate power source and can rejuice us when we are dead. But I think in addition to that, we need another….I was so thankful for the guy who linked up. Certainly, Jesus has the power to start my car without anyone else. He could have answered my prayer and cranked it right up. But God chooses to use others in our lives…to create linkage and allow us to draw strength and power from another. One car linked to another allowed both to go. One person linked to another produces the power to move. When I am weak and can’t move because I am just dead from the journey thus far, Christ can certainly revive me and restore me. And yet, He chooses to do that through linkage. One life connected to another life to draw strength and power. How crazy would it seem for me to just stand in the parking lot and hold up my cables and say….Jesus, start my car…I have the tools. I believe. It would be pretty cool if He did that, but the truth is, Jesus chooses to use others.
ALL FOR YOU