I'm supposing that most everyone that reads the Flat Tire Ministry Blog has seen the connected picture of the guy sitting on his tailgate stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire. When I started this blog, I was looking for an associated picture that captured the essence of the whole idea behind Flat Tire Ministries. This picture does. When you have a flat tire whether it be a literal blow out on your car or the more figurative flat that sidetracks your momentum in life, we each have a choice to make. Sit down and feel sorry for yourself until someone comes along and helps you out, or if you are of the Mister Fix a Flat mentality, you see the flat and you get to work on fixing it so you can get on down the road of life. The guy in the picture is obviously at the end of his rope. The look of disappointment and downheartedness is on full display letting us know that he is thinking in his head, "I quit".
I'm also pretty sure that most of us have realized that he is carrying a load of tires in his truck bed. Is the guy so focused on the flat that he doesn't even see that he has the solution to the problem right there on his truck? Maybe he doesn't have a jack? Maybe all of the tires are flats that he was taking to the shredder? Maybe he is running late to an important appointment and now he isn't going to make the date? A myriad list of maybes comes to mind, yet those maybes are also just hindrances or excuses standing in the way of getting his tire fixed and getting on with his appointed journey. When a flat tire happens, problem solving 101 has to hit the ground running.
For most of the 19 flat tires I've experienced over the last several years the solution was pretty simple, get the jack and spare tire out of the vehicle, remove the flat tire, install the spare tire, tighten up the nuts, and move on down the road. In other cases, it made much more sense to get out the tire repair kit I have amassed through all my flats, pull the nail or other road hazard out of the tire, smear cement glue all over the tire plug, plug the tire, and then top off the air pressure in the tire. From there it is back on the road and back to my appointed rounds. A couple of those 19 have caused me a great deal of frustration and in at least one instance required me to get the help of a tow service. That one was a big disappointment to me. I don't want to have to ask someone to help me with my problems, and fixing my own flat has become a motivating force in my life and how I approach life's flat tires.
Lots of symbolism connected to the whole idea of fixing a flat tire. I am so thankful for the gift God has given to me through the series of flat tires I have persevered through and grown both mentally and physically in my resolve to overcome life's flat tires in whatever shape they are handed to me. Relational flat tires, financial blow outs, medical or health related flats, disappointments, deep valleys, and even death rank as flat tires in our lives, the question is do you sit on the side of the road or do you get to work on plugging, patching, or replacing the flat and get back on with your life's intended purpose? I choose to move forward, so I choose to fix my flats!
God doesn't want us to sit stranded on the side of the road of life either. If whitewalls would have been around back in the time of Joseph, he would have probably had a truck bed full of flat tires to carry around like the guy in our FTM photo. Cast in a pit by his own brothers, and then sold into slavery by the same siblings, flat tires. Worked his way into management only to be falsely accused and imprisoned, flat tires. Found favor in prison and was assigned to the Pharaoh and eventually rose to second in command over all the kingdom of Egypt. What if Joseph had decided to sit down and quit? Joseph's failure would have impacted the future of so many others. In the end, Joseph was able to forgive his brothers for what they did to him and also be reunited with his father and ultimately save his family from famine. You see your flat tire doesn't just impact you. Your choices to get up and fix your flats has a direct impact on those you love, live, and work with in life.
Many people feel that their decision to not move forward and fix their flat isn't anybody's business except their own. Joseph's story reminds us that the decisions we make to either face the flat and fix it, or sit back in self-pity and do nothing hoping someone else will fix your problems has a direct impact on generations to come. You have a purpose and if you stop moving forward to fulfill that purpose, the impact on other lives will be long lasting. You may not be able to fix your flat on your own, fortunately you aren't alone in the repair business. God promises to be with us, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” DEUTERONOMY 31:6.
So, the next time you get a flat tire, real or perceived, don't be like the guy in the FTM photo, get out your lug wrench and start changing that flat! The decision you make will impact your life, and the lives of so many others!
Coach Carter
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