Grinding Gears and the Power of Love

Grinding Gears and the Power of Love

A few month ago, the transmission in my wife’s van suddenly went out and came to a literal grinding halt!  And although paying for the repairs about threw my hip out of socket with how much money went flying out of my wallet, it caused me to ponder on the nature of gears and how they apply to our lives.

If you’ve never driven a stick shift, manual transmission in a car before, then some of what follows may not make complete sense, but I think you will get the picture.

The gears in a transmission, or about any machine for that matter, work because the gears are equipped with rows of teeth which line up with and interlace with matching teeth on an adjacent gear connected to another part of the machine.  There is a series of gears of different sizes which move back and forth depending on how fast you want to go or how much power and force you need to pull with.

The problem comes when trying to shift from one gear to another at the wrong time.  The gears then get out of sync with each other instead of fitting together the way they should, one gear is spinning and the other can’t mesh with it at the proper speed.  The result is a horrible grinding sound as the metal teeth grate across each other, creating an incredible amount of sparks, friction, loss of power, broken shards of steel and loss of propulsion (and sometimes the need to replace the whole transmission).

“So how does this apply to life?” you ask.   What a great question!  Let me share a few observations which I have pondered over in this regards.

Let’s look at the gears as a representation of a relationship between two people.  Let’s start with the example of a husband and wife.  When the teeth of the gears are aligned and in sync with each other, a lot of good can happen and progress in the relationship is wonderful, smooth and powerful to behold – as two people become like one, they make each other better and fulfill the purpose of the relationship.

But when one partner decides to do something which doesn’t align with the other’s thinking and rhythm, then grinding sparks begin to fly, friction and heat become evident, pieces of hearts, trust and confidence in each other get ground off as damage is inflicted upon each other.  And unless they can calm down, realign and get back in sync again, then extensive or permanent damage may be done to the relationship.

But let’s take this analogy to another, deeper level of meaning – that of our relationship with the Lord.

The Lord is the Perfect Master Gear with perfectly aligned teeth which are spinning at the perfect speed needed for optimal progress and performance.  If we are not engaged with Him, then no forward progress can be made.  He is Omnipotent (all powerful) and therefore the teeth on His gears are indestructible and incapable of being damaged.  He is the prototype and all other gears must come into alignment with Him if spiritual progress is to occur in our lives.  And He has provided commandments to help us keep that alignment adjusted properly.

But sometimes, we tend to think that we have a better way to make progress, and we try to do things our own way and in our own timing.  We get out of sync with God’s commandments and all of the sudden we find the friction starting to happen in our lives.  Questions, doubts, concerns, unbelief, lack of faith, discouragement, guilt and a host of other symptoms result.  In other words, our gears have become either damaged

or dirtied with filth and corrosion.

This is not because God has changed or is punishing us.  It is because WE have gotten out of sync with His perfect gear.

If we continue in our misaligned ways, spiritual parts of our soul become damaged and broken.  The longer we stay out of alignment and keep trying to force our own way against His Master Gear, the more extensive and severe the damage.

If you don’t believe me, consider what He said when He appeared to Saul, who was actively fighting against His disciples, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutes: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  …And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” (Acts 9:5, 9)  He was eventually only healed through repentance and a priesthood blessing.  If that’s not spiritual grinding of the gears kind of damage, I don’t know what is.

Another significant example of the results of such misalignment of gears is found in the account of Alma the Younger and his friends found in (Mosiah 27:11-19).  I will include some portions of those passages.  “…as they were going about rebelling against God, behold and angel of the Lord appeared unto them… and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder.  … and so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth.  (and the angel said) … why persecutest thou the Church of God?  … I am sent from God …go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, … and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.   … And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those who were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father.”  Alma too was only able to be restored through deep repentance and because of the prayers and fasting of his family and friends.

While these two examples are extreme cases, they serve to point out that whenever we continue to grind against God’s gears, especially in open rebellion, then damage of some sort is sure to occur, and it will always be beyond our ability to repair on our own.

Sometimes, of no fault of our own, another gear (not the Master Gear, but another flawed human gear) crashes into us with shattering force, such as is the case when abuse and acts of violence are committed upon the innocent.  These unplanned collisions can leave devastating injuries and broken pieces behind in their wake.  Such devastating breakdowns are not the fault of the Master, but He is still the means to healing and repentance.

But despite whatever breakdowns occur from whatever sources, that doesn’t mean that all is lost.  He is perfect and therefore provided a way to make all the repairs necessary when such damage occurs.  And the best part is – HE HAS ALREADY PAID FOR ALL THOSE NEEDED REPAIRS IN ADVANCE!

All we need to do is repent and commit ourselves to come back into alignment with Him and all can be restored to its proper order.  AND HE TOTALLY DELIGHTS IN HELPING US MAKE THOSE REPAIRS AND REALIGN WITH HIM!

But sometimes, even when we are doing our best to be as perfectly aligned with Him as we can, struggle is still evident.  In fact, even when we are serving and doing our very best, there are times when trials come.

Sometimes an increased load is placed upon us, and the Lord requires us to shift down into a simpler and lower gear.  This can be to help increase torque and build our strength and increase our pulling capacity to greater levels, and serves a very needed and important purpose at that stage of the journey which only the increased load can teach us.

At other times the increased strain comes and He makes us shift down so that we can climb up a steeper incline to reach higher ground with loftier and brighter views than the lower levels could provide.

But when those times of increased load or burden, or when the struggle to climb to higher ground occurs in the road of life, we must remember – THESE ARE NOT THE TIMES TO GET OUT OF GEAR WITH THE LORD!  Sometimes when the troubles and struggles come, we want to withdraw and pull away.  But in doing so we only serve to disconnect ourselves with the Master Gear which is providing all the power for propulsion.  If we disengage, especially during those times, momentum will quickly come to a stop and we may even find ourselves drifting backwards to lower levels.

No, those are the exact times we want to be fully engaged with the Lord’s Master Gear, because as He stated in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke (gear) upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Can you understand what He is promising us in these verses?  He is promising that instead of grinding ourselves to pieces, He is willing to actually pull the load for us if we will but just get fully aligned with Him.  The burden will still be there, but the Master Gear will be pulling its weight right alongside us!

So the next time you feel the frustrations, frictions, and burdens of life grinding on your soul, remember to take whatever steps necessary to realign yourselves with the Master Gear, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will gladly help heal you, your relationships, and pull the load with you in the perfect way to allow you to progress with increased speed and efficiency down the road of life – which eventually leads back to His presence.  For we are all broken and imperfect gears in some form or another, and cannot progress without His repairs and Him being an engaged part of our lives.