Hatch-a-Plan

It’s recently occurred to me that actions my wife call, “just being stupid,” are often times reflections of things I’ve done in my own life.  In others words somebody will do something and my wife will say, “Well that’s just stupid,” and inside of my head I respond with, “I’m glad you didn’t know me when…”  

It seems like emergency situations can bring out the stupid in just about anybody.  In those moments, when options seem limited and emotions are “on high,” people could do just about anything.  Then later, when they have to explain their actions, the only adequate response they can offer is, “Well… it seemed like a good idea at the time.”  

I was recently told a story about a man who locked himself in his stand-alone garage.  He walked in and then his old, sliding-garage door crashed down behind him and broke in such a way that it locked and could not be budged.  He didn’t have his cell phone with him and lived alone, which left him with very few options.  But don’t worry, he came up with a plan.  

Plan A was to find any way to unlock the garage door from the inside.  No go.  Apparently, plan B, which may have been a close second to plan A, was to crash through the garage door with his riding lawnmower.  Works in the movies, right?  Nope.  Those are cars, but why bother with the details?  He had a problem, but things looked much better with lawnmower and a plan.  What could go wrong?  Clearly, nothing.

Oh, except… the lawnmower needed to warm up before it would be ready to crash through the garage door and deliver him to freedom.  No problem, he had time, so he started it up and waited.  Ahem… once again, inside of the enclosed garage.  

Let’s talk about miracles.  I wouldn’t be able to tell you this story if the poor man had not survived, but astoundingly police officers were patrolling the area, heard the noise, deduced that a problem existed and called firefighters.  Once inside, firefighters measured carbon monoxide levels at nearly 40%.  Luckily, the man had yet to attempt to double-oh-seven his way out.  That’s good news for him.  

Here’s the bad news for us: we’re trapped in a garage called “mortality” and there’s no human way out.  We’ve tried just about everything- seeking the fountain of youth, cryogenic freezing, scientific advances, drug experimentation and so far there’s still no hope for beating death.  But here’s good news: we have developed creams for much younger looking skin during our short time on earth.  That’s consoling.  

We may hatch some interesting plans, but it doesn’t matter, we’re never going to judo-chop our way out of this thing and into immortality.  Try as we might, we will fail.  It’s going to take a miracle.  It’s going to take the supernatural.  The God of the universe felt that it was necessary to send his Son to save us for a reason.  He loves us and he knows… we can’t do this on our own.  

So turn off the engine, and dismount the John Deere, Mr. Bond, and come investigate God’s plan A.  It looks like a miracle, but what else could it be?  

Pastor Travis Montgomery