Spinning Wheels
Have you ever noticed how a spinning wheel is just like a gyroscope. Almost impossible to get to change its direction. If you do not believe me next time you change a flat tire on your bicycle spin the wheel real fast then holding the axle and try to make it turn to the left or right. Almost impossible. We humans are very much the same as the spinning wheel. Once we are on a course whether good or bad we tend to want to continue in that direction. Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a sermon on how we love to get stuck on our own spinning wheels.
What do I mean by being on a spinning wheel. I mean going in circles with your life.
You see if you are following Jesus and ask God to help you with some sin in your life and you refuse to let it go you have put yourself on the spinning wheel. I have counseled men that have been addicted to pornography only to watch them return to their sin. It was different circumstances and different times but they returned to their vomit. The other thing that can get you and I on the spinning wheel is praying for the Lord to do something in your life. In answer to your prayer the Lord will put people and circumstances in your life to answer that request. If you fail to learn the lesson you will repeat the lesson again, it will be with different circumstances and people but the same lesson. If your being totally honest with yourself and you look at your life you will see exactly what I mean.
I can no longer even count how many young people Mary and I have counseled who were addicted to drugs only to see them go back to their life of drugs. Each time it is a different crowd they run with and a different place but the out come is the same. Why, because they truly do not want to change their life.
Another example is money, so many people refuse to learn the lessons the Bible teaches and they go around and around on they're spinning wheel. They listen to each and every Pastor that has a word for them on how to get out of debt. The two most common ones to cause people to go around and around financially are the sow your seed to meet your need and the name it and claim it doctrines. I cannot count how many people we run across that get into the sowing of a seed in every ministry they can find only to be in the same financial shape a few months down the road. The name it and claim it doctrine just inspires people to get stuck on the spinning wheel naming and claiming what they want and never getting it. Of course the word of faith pastors always will be the first to tell you that your lack of faith is why you are not getting what God wants for you. If you study the Word Of God you will see that Jesus promised that we would receive what we ask for in His name but, Oh how I hate those buts! But If you study the Word of God you will realize that Jesus put many conditions on giving us what we ask for. If your hearts desire it to own a brand new Porsche and the Lord who knows everything, knows you will take the Porsche and speed and get in to an accident and die do you think He would give it to you. Lets bring it even closer to home. Each year thousands of teenage drivers die in their first car. Do you think the parent who bought their child that new fast car they dreamed of instead of an old beater, would have done so if the car dealer had been honest and told them the odds were their child would die.
Now sometimes you will end up on a spinning wheel because of your lack of faith. Remember the Apostles prayer to the Lord. "Increase our faith oh Lord!" Just look what they went through to increase their faith. Some times the spinning wheel is very hard to understand. Jesus has allowed me to revolve in circles many times in my life. Especially when I ask Him to increase my faith and I then do not allow Him to do it. I had once prayed for the Lord to make me a might man of faith and he did. But the way He did was very interesting. As many of you know my lovely wife has suffered with Asthma. One time years ago she had not had any symptoms for 4 months. We were going to see a pastor that the Lord did not really want us associated with. Just at we got to this conference she had a deadly attack. Her lungs shut down and she could not breathe. Of course she had no medicine. I found a local police officer and asked how to get to the hospital. (Oh ye of little faith). Well, I am sometimes not too bright. I took a wrong turn and was at the wrong end of town. All the time I was praying to the Lord fervently. Finally I told the Lord if he did not do something immediately I was just going to dial 911 on the cellular phone and get help. Mary with her last gasping breath said NO! Hospital! I said WHAT!!!!! She told me the Lord has just told her no hospital. Then I just cried out "Lord my faith is not strong enough I have no one but you I cannot get to mans help in time to save Mary! You're all I have! " Instantly she was healed of all symptoms and her lungs were perfect. For those who know anything about asthma when some one has an attack this bad they will usually spend up to 12 hrs recovering with trouble breathing and lung pain. Mary had no symptoms she was perfect and could take a deep breath with no problem. She later told me that the Lord had spoken to her that she would not die from an asthma attack that it was for building my faith. So, to this date when I hear Mary have problems I go to her, lay hands on her and pray and the problem goes away. It is not me but faith in the only one who can heal. So the Lord had to have me on that spinning wheel until I learned that lesson.
Waiting on the Lord can be a spinning wheel in your life. One of the hardest things for me to do is to wait upon the Lord. As a child I was hyper-active and I wanted it NOW!!! Sadly I still have my times where the Lord has to put me in a spinning wheel to force me to wait upon him.
If the Lord has something you must do for Him or you have a call on your life and you have not gotten it right yet you could find yourself on a spinning wheel in your Christian life. I have counseled many a Christian who has this problem. Their most common comment is "I feel that I am going nowhere for the Lord" or "No matter how hard I try I feel I am not going forward." Notice the common denominator ? It is the dreaded "I". The old rock song was "one is the loneliest number." One is not only the loneliest number, but for Christians it is the deadliest. Because when only one is involved 99% of the time it is the dreaded "I". I this, I that, me, me, me! You can never get off the spinning wheels in your life if you are not willing to let the Lord have His way and will for you. No matter what it is you will continue to go around and around coming back to the same point but with different people, places and circumstances. Sometimes the Lord needs complete trust and faith in Him to answer your prayers. Just like when I was at my end with Mary's Asthma. I had to turn to the Lord with only Him left. Then and only then did I get off that spinning wheel. Sadly He has had to put me on that wheel a couple times since then to increase my faith and trust.
Only the Lord can get you to where you need to be in this life. If you just try on your own you will always be on that Spinning Wheel of life. You could try like an actor in an old Broadway play once said. "Stop the world I want to get off!" It did and he did. But by the end of the play he was so miserable the curtain closed with him screaming "STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET ON!" He did not have Jesus, you do my friend. Let Him guide you in your life and it will be as Stephen Curtis Chapman said a great adventure.
