Joy in Changing a Flat Tire…

My cousin Ned, who is also one of my best friends, called me the other day.  He’s been listening to my sermons on Steps of Joy.  In the series, I’m explaining how to build a life of joy, not just experience haphazard moments of joy.  He started the conversation by asking, “Next Sunday, are you going to explain how to have joy when you have a flat tire?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.  I am no stranger to the flat tire club.  As a four-year-old, I let the air out of a tire.  I thought the sound of the hissing air was cool.  The whipping I got afterwards was not cool.

If there were a stray nail in a hundred-acre pasture, I would find it with the tractor.  Tractor tires are not easy to change.  I was riding my bike one day and found a sharp piece of glass that left me with two flat tires. 

My record was hauling my boat up to Lake Keowee for a family vacation.  I had a flat tire on the right side of the boat trailer ten miles from my house.  An hour later (after I bought a new spare tire), I had a blowout on the left side of the trailer.  I called and paid a man to come out and bring me another new tire. 

It is hard to find joy in changing flat tires.  In my experience, the jack never quite fits.  I carry a four-ton jack in my toolbox.  Once I had a flat tire out in my pasture.  I hauled out my jack, set it up, and started pumping it up.  The truck did not go up, but I managed to push the earth down a good ten inches.  Since then, I carry a six-by-six block of wood in the bed of my truck.  Putting the jack on a block of wood makes everything work better.

Ned told me his flat happened in a sandy orange grove middle.  Florida sand is not like beach sand.  It’s porous.  You can lose small children who get sucked into the sand.  Ned said he normally carries around a block of wood, but for some reason, it had gone missing from the back of his truck.  I get that.  There is a steady stream of garbage in and useful items out of the back of my truck.

Ned got his tire changed, but it was hot, and he got sweaty, and it was about five times harder than it needed to be.

So where was the joy?

Have you noticed we focus on the things that frustrate us?  When life does not go according to plan, we get mad, or we get anxious because we have lost control.  Frustration and anxiety are joy-killers.

So, how do you find joy when changing a flat tire?  I thought about my grandfather, Ned’s great-grandfather.  For the first two-thirds of his life, he did not have a truck.  To check his groves, he walked or rode his horse.  Grandpa Smith never had an air-conditioned truck or house.  I’m pretty sure he never sat in an air-conditioned room in his life.  I’m not sure they owned a tractor before he died.  They plowed with a team of oxen and hand-hoed every orange tree.  I wonder if he would tell us to be grateful that we have trucks with air conditioning.

My parents were married in September 1945.  During World War II, food, gas, and tires were rationed.  My daddy had to borrow his mother’s car, but it had four bald tires.  His brother-in-law, Uncle J.N., had a service station, and he had a car in for repairs that wouldn’t be fixed over the weekend.  It had four good tires.  They took off the four bald tires of Granny Smith’s car and put on the four good tires.  Daddy drove it to Kissimmee, got married, then he and Mama drove to Tampa for their honeymoon.  Mama told me they both prayed the whole way not to have a flat.  They had no spare.  They made it to Tampa and back to Wauchula, exchanged the tires, and no one was the wiser.  I think Daddy might tell us to be grateful that we have spare tires.

When those frustrating times come (and they will), before you get on board the frustration train, pause, get perspective, and be grateful for what you have.  Paul gives three commands in 1 Thessalonians 5: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Paul connects joy with prayer and gratitude.   He is telling us to choose our reactions instead of letting our reactions choose us. 

This is not to say that we fake joy.  If our child dies of cancer, or our spouse leaves us, or we lose our job, we may feel the loss and the sadness.  But the Psalmist reminds us that joy comes in the morning.  If I understand this correctly, it means with time, we can see God’s hand at work guiding us, comforting us, loving us, and forgiving us, no matter what tragedy comes.

How do you find joy in changing a flat tire?  You pause.  You remind yourself of your blessings.  You remember God is at work for you.  Then you get out, change the tire, and know Jesus is right there with you.