As life would have it I have experienced my share of flat tires.  But, due to some unknown stroke of good fortune I have never had to put to the test my claim that I could change a flat tire by myself if I had to.  Thanks to my mom, my sister, Brett and various others I have only “helped” to change a flat tire. 

All cars come with a jack, most of the time put in an incredibly inconvenient place in the car or outside of the car.  If you’re lucky you can manage to get it out without reading the manual.  And then once you actually have the jack in hand, you mentally wonder how this little thing is ever going to lift your car.  But, since you need to change the tire, and you certainly can’t lift the car on your own, you strategically place the jack and use the tire iron to lift the car.  That puny little tire iron isn’t usually more than a half an inch thick, and the jack usually isn’t any bigger than your steering wheel, if that big, but without it the car would remain on the ground and you would have to resort to the rubber on the bottom of your shoes for your transportation. 

I am going to compare the jack to faith.  Without it God can’t work the impossible in our lives.  Jesus said we need faith only the size of a mustard seed in order to move a mountain.  The size of a mustard seed is so small, we wonder how it can move a mountain.  We seem to believe that if only we believed more we would have more faith.  But, Jesus said that He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.  He gives it to us.  If we need more, we can’t conjure it up on our own, we must ask Him for it.  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) 

If you stop to think about it, Jesus knows that the life of faith that He created us for is so much better than living without faith.  It’s like the difference between changing the flat tire with the help of that teeny little jack and then zooming full speed down the road again in your turbo-charged car or leaving the car sitting there in the middle of the desert and using the rubber on your shoes to get you to your destination.   Jesus is so sure that you living a life of faith is the best thing ever that He died so you could do it!