It all unfolded earlier this week when my wife and I set about cutting our grass. Now, to set the stage, we have three mowers. First, there is the big five-foot SCAG Turf-Tiger zero-turn commercial mower my wife inherited from her father. She rides this and cuts the large, flat open areas of our property.
We also have two much smaller Toro Timecutter 4220 zero-turn mowers that are exactly alike. One which we bought and which I ride to cut the smaller, more intricate sections of our property, and another one just like it which was also once her father’s, and which we use far less often to cut the woods and creek bank behind our house.
In any event, after two hours of cutting grass one day earlier this week, I pulled the Toro off to the side of the yard in order to blow it off before putting it in the barn. When I looked down at the ignition switch, I noticed that the key was missing. I searched feverishly for the key, but did not see it anywhere. I then retrieved the key from the identical Toro in order to turn off the one I was using once I got it back into the barn.
Thereafter, I spent the better part of an hour walking all over the yard looking for a lost lawnmower key. Sadly, I never found it.
Given that I had never before lost a lawnmower key, I suddenly found myself quite apprehensive about losing the only remaining one. My distress was only magnified by the fact that I was scheduled the following day to cut the grass at the local cemetery just down the road. After all, if I lost the second key, I would no longer be able to use either mower.
Thus it was that all during the time I was cutting the cemetery the next day, I kept looking down at the ignition switch to check that the key was where it should be. Thankfully, it stayed put; and ultimately, I was able to mow the graveyard, load up the mower, get it back home, and unload it.
Once home, I drove it off the trailer and pulled it over to the side of the yard to blow it off once again before putting it in the barn. My precious wife came walking up with the blower and signaled that she would take care of this for me while I put away the push mower, the trimmer, and the gas cans before dropping the trailer and parking the truck.
It was then that the miracle happened. Just after she blew off the Toro mower and parked it in the barn, she turned to me with a big grin on her face. In one hand, she had the second Toro key that she had taken from the ignition. In her other hand, she held up the long lost first Toro key.
It had somehow fallen into the housing of the mower the day before and then managed to stay there the entire time I had both transported and used the mower to cut the cemetery grass! My wife found it when she was in the process of blowing off the mower after I had cut the cemetery.
I had to laugh out loud! For the better part of twenty-four hours, I had sweated the absence of that single key. I had worried continuously as I had considered all the various consequences that might come about as a result of no longer having it. And yet, it had been there all along - right beside me on the mower! It had never even left my side!
Being a child of the seventies, the words to an old Eagles song came to mind: “So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the key!”
Of course, upon further reflection, I was reminded of the words of Jesus, Who once asked His followers: “Why do you worry?” He then reminded them (and us) that our Heavenly Father is well aware of all that we are up against, and that He will faithfully provide.
For this same Heavenly Father has promised us (more than once, I might add) that He will never leave us nor forsake us. That is to say that He will always be with us, meaning that He is with us every step of the way in life, even when we may not realize it!
Had I have only known that I had the key with me all along, I would never have spent so much time fretting over my circumstance with regard to a simple lawnmower.
And in all of this I have been reminded that I have doubtless spent far too much time in my life fretting and worrying about other things, many of which were far more significant than a mere lawnmower. For no matter what I faced, even if I did not realize it, God was with me all along, right by my side! Despite my fears, He had never once forsaken me. He never has and He never will!
Maybe, just maybe, the key to life is grasping this basic principle. And maybe, just maybe, you like me needed to be reminded of this principle this very day. Why be all keyed up when we don't have to be?!
SOURCES:
EAGLES SONG LYRICS:
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/eagles/already-gone.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/6.htm;
https://biblehub.com/joshua/1-5.htm;
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/13-5.htm.
We also have two much smaller Toro Timecutter 4220 zero-turn mowers that are exactly alike. One which we bought and which I ride to cut the smaller, more intricate sections of our property, and another one just like it which was also once her father’s, and which we use far less often to cut the woods and creek bank behind our house.
In any event, after two hours of cutting grass one day earlier this week, I pulled the Toro off to the side of the yard in order to blow it off before putting it in the barn. When I looked down at the ignition switch, I noticed that the key was missing. I searched feverishly for the key, but did not see it anywhere. I then retrieved the key from the identical Toro in order to turn off the one I was using once I got it back into the barn.
Thereafter, I spent the better part of an hour walking all over the yard looking for a lost lawnmower key. Sadly, I never found it.
Given that I had never before lost a lawnmower key, I suddenly found myself quite apprehensive about losing the only remaining one. My distress was only magnified by the fact that I was scheduled the following day to cut the grass at the local cemetery just down the road. After all, if I lost the second key, I would no longer be able to use either mower.
Thus it was that all during the time I was cutting the cemetery the next day, I kept looking down at the ignition switch to check that the key was where it should be. Thankfully, it stayed put; and ultimately, I was able to mow the graveyard, load up the mower, get it back home, and unload it.
Once home, I drove it off the trailer and pulled it over to the side of the yard to blow it off once again before putting it in the barn. My precious wife came walking up with the blower and signaled that she would take care of this for me while I put away the push mower, the trimmer, and the gas cans before dropping the trailer and parking the truck.
It was then that the miracle happened. Just after she blew off the Toro mower and parked it in the barn, she turned to me with a big grin on her face. In one hand, she had the second Toro key that she had taken from the ignition. In her other hand, she held up the long lost first Toro key.
It had somehow fallen into the housing of the mower the day before and then managed to stay there the entire time I had both transported and used the mower to cut the cemetery grass! My wife found it when she was in the process of blowing off the mower after I had cut the cemetery.
I had to laugh out loud! For the better part of twenty-four hours, I had sweated the absence of that single key. I had worried continuously as I had considered all the various consequences that might come about as a result of no longer having it. And yet, it had been there all along - right beside me on the mower! It had never even left my side!
Being a child of the seventies, the words to an old Eagles song came to mind: “So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the key!”
Of course, upon further reflection, I was reminded of the words of Jesus, Who once asked His followers: “Why do you worry?” He then reminded them (and us) that our Heavenly Father is well aware of all that we are up against, and that He will faithfully provide.
For this same Heavenly Father has promised us (more than once, I might add) that He will never leave us nor forsake us. That is to say that He will always be with us, meaning that He is with us every step of the way in life, even when we may not realize it!
Had I have only known that I had the key with me all along, I would never have spent so much time fretting over my circumstance with regard to a simple lawnmower.
And in all of this I have been reminded that I have doubtless spent far too much time in my life fretting and worrying about other things, many of which were far more significant than a mere lawnmower. For no matter what I faced, even if I did not realize it, God was with me all along, right by my side! Despite my fears, He had never once forsaken me. He never has and He never will!
Maybe, just maybe, the key to life is grasping this basic principle. And maybe, just maybe, you like me needed to be reminded of this principle this very day. Why be all keyed up when we don't have to be?!
SOURCES:
EAGLES SONG LYRICS:
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/eagles/already-gone.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/6.htm;
https://biblehub.com/joshua/1-5.htm;
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/13-5.htm.