Lessons From an Auction Clerk

Good Morning,

The verse of the day is Hebrews 12:2. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith…

The bright sun danced in my eyes as I zipped my
jacket and headed out of the barn into the crisp morning air. I threaded my way
through the crowds of Carhart-clad men and women who had gathered for the farm
machinery auction. I followed the sound of the auctioneer’s chant to the place
where our clerking cart was located and exchanged places with the clerk on
duty. Without speaking I immediately gave all my attention to what was
happening before me. As the auctioneer called bids, my fingers flew over the
computer keys recording the description, the price, and the bidder number for
each item sold. Moving through the line of green and yellow riding mowers, I
inched through the pressing crowd to keep the auctioneer and the items in view.

As I moved my cart forward I realized that my
antenna was having trouble transmitting to our main computer in the metal barn.
I wheeled the cart back until I had better reception, all the while continuing
to type, and positioned myself in a place where I could clearly hear the
auctioneer’s chant through our speaker. The crowd moved forward and I focused
my hearing on the voice coming through the PA system, completely putting my
trust in what the auctioneer was saying. I now needed to rely on him fully to
give me the correct information because I could no longer see what was going
on.

This is much like our lives. We follow God
along the path of life until something gets in our way. An interruption breaks
into our comfortable situation and we feel left behind as the world moves on.
There may be an illness, a death, or a financial situation that causes despair
and suddenly we feel as if we have lost contact with Him. We lose sight of God
through our frustration and pain and the voices of life swirl around us causing
us to feel confused. These are the times when we need to tune out the crowd’s
noise and with every ounce of our concentration fix our eyes on Christ. Hang
onto God’s words for they will never fail. Even when we cannot see what is
going on, God is still in control. 

It takes training and practice to block the
distractions around me when clerking an auction. Similarly, it takes a lot of
determination to fix our eyes on Jesus in a world of distractions. But when we
do we will experience God’s perfect peace and we’ll never miss a bid!

Love,

Mama