Yesterday I did some work on the roads on my farm. It had reached a point of one of my main roads being impassable due to huge washouts. So, I got my lone worker, Willie an elderly black fellow, and I loaded up a dump trailer full of dirt and he hauled it to our first washout with my pickup. I drove the skid steer (Bobcat) to spread the dirt and fill the holes and he drove the truck pulling the dump trailer loaded with dirt.
We had to go down a very steep hill and then cross a very narrow bridge which is suspended some 20 feet above a creek. I pulled through first and drove about 100 feet past the bridge to allow him room. I couldn’t see him from my vantage point but in a few minutes he called my phone, and he was in full panic mode. When he had started down the steep incline, the heavy trailer loaded with dirt started pushing him at a fast rate of speed down the steep hill. He barely got it to stop as he reached the bridge, and he told me he was afraid it was going into the creek for little or nothing.
I drove over to where he was and sure enough one tire was about halfway off the bridge. Gulp!!! I wasn’t sure if I could get it moving and pull the truck, trailer, and load of dirt without a driver in it without it plunging to the bottom and perhaps turning over.
I told him to get away from it and after saying a quick prayer I took a cue from the Kamikaze pilots and yelled Banzai! as I accelerated forward. Somehow I made it intact. After the bridge crossing we went about 1/4 of a mile and encountered another steep hill only this time it was heading up and not down. We got it about 3/4’s of the way up and the truck couldn’t pull it and was losing traction. I moved back over with the chain and pulled it up a few feet with the heavy equipment. I told him to move the chain to miss a large tree at the top of the hill. I held everything in place with my equipment and some rocks behind the tires and he moved the chain. The only problem was he did a poor job securing it and as soon as I put pressure on it and removed the rocks, it broke loose and went down the hill full tilt until it came to a rest at the base of the hill.
Dang it! It took us about two hours to resecure the chain, move it and then resecure the chain again and move it going up (at most) 6 feet every time we resecured the chain. After hours of this we finally made it past the top of the hill and avoided the big tree and headed back home. Unfortunately, I had to dump all the dirt out of the dump trailer to make it light enough to accomplish getting up the hill and the entire day was nothing, but a big waste of time and we were both worn to a frazzle. When we got back he looked at me and I looked at him and we both broke out laughing. I told him to go home and get some rest and we would try again another day.
Though it was dangerous it was also exciting at times. Frankly, I think God had His hand in this caper, because the truck, trailer, dirt, and me by all rights should have gone down into the creek that is at least 20 some-odd feet below. Aside from getting hurt or killed, at a minimum we would have lost some very expensive equipment.
Faith and prayer got us through this day unscathed and we should acknowledge it always.
As it turns out we both have our memories and though perilous there was no harm -no foul. Willie told me he was going to stop at his church on his way home and make sure the heat was going in our brutally cold weather. It is a pleasure to work with such a good person. Does God reward such behavior. Yes I think He does.
The rewards we gain in heaven are not like the rewards we earn here on earth. We tend to think in material terms—mansions, jewels, etc. But these things are only representations of the true rewards we will gain in heaven. A child who wins a spelling bee treasures the trophy he receives not for the sake of the trophy itself but for what that trophy means. Likewise, any rewards or honor we gain in heaven will be precious to us because they carry the weight and meaning of our relationship with God—and because they remind us of what He did through us on earth.
In this way, rewards in heaven glorify God and provide us with joy, peace, and wonder as we consider God’s work in us and through us. The closer we are to God during this life, the more centered on Him and aware of Him, the more dependent on Him, the more desperate for His mercy, the more there will be to celebrate. We are like characters in a story who suffer doubt, loss, and fear, wondering if we will live through our tribulations and have our heart’s desire. When the happy ending comes and desire is fulfilled, there comes a completion. The story would not be satisfying without that completion. Rewards in heaven are the completion of our earthly story, and those rewards will be eternally satisfying.
Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive
an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.