Snowblowers and Life Change

I had trouble with my snowblower this week. The first heavy snow came over the weekend, and in the middle of clearing the first round, the shear pin that connects the auger to the drive shaft broke. It’s designed to do that to protect the motor. It should be a simple job of pulling out the old pin and replacing it with a new one. But after being in place for the last 6-7 years, and because the pin is designed to shear, it’s a softer metal than the drive shaft. So the different types of metals sitting together corroded over time and essentially welded themselves together. I thought I could just tap the old one out, but it didn’t even move. I generously applied penetrating lubricant and let it sit a couple of hours. But it still wouldn’t move. I heated it up with a torch and tapped some more. Still no movement. So I tapped harder. Soon, I was wailing on it with my mallet and punch, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, I brought it over to my friend Matt, and he drilled it out with a metal-cutting bit.

Now, I’ve got the old pin out, and the new pin in…ready for the next snowfall.

And it’s as if God said to me, “That’s what I have to do with you sometimes." Paul referred to the process where God produces change in us as, “putting off and putting on.” You can’t create new and good habits unless you first remove the old broken ones, the things in our lives that are causing problems, getting in the way of being who he created us to be, and injuring our relationships, especially with him.

So the old broken and nasty junk, the bad habits in our lives, need to be removed if they are to be replaced with the new things that God wants to do in us. But that’s not always an easy process. He applies heat. He applies pressure (like the beating of a hammer). And sometimes he does some really painful drilling and cutting. But it’s all necessary. Because for me, that $600 snowblower was just a doorstop with the old broken pin in place. And you, God made you fearfully and wonderfully. You are his amazing workmanship! But the old, stubborn, broken junk in our lives renders us useless for his purposes. He loves us too much to leave us that way. So he goes to work with his torch, his hammer, and sometimes his drill. It’s painful while he’s at work. But when it's accomplished, it’s well worth it.

My snowblower is once again doing what it was designed to do. Are you?