Tow Truck Savior

          A few weeks ago I was sitting in my room, eating dinner and watching TV, when I saw something on the screen that caught my attention. In the scene of the show I was watching, one of the main character’s car had broken down and she had called a tow truck. When the tow truck pulled up, it looked something like this…

          Now maybe you think I’m weird, and that I am. Maybe you know what the back of a tow truck looks like, and think I’m pretty slow to just be noticing it. But when I was sitting there watching TV and I saw a tow truck pull up with what looked like a cross on the back, I had a God Moment. My brain started spinning... I was thinking "that cross-shaped object is reaching down to pick up a broken down car, and then it’s going to take that broken car to the shop to be fixed." As the saying goes, “that’ll preach!” I was immediately fascinated with tow trucks and I wanted to know more. So I did what I always do when I’m looking for answers. 

Pray. Read the Bible. Google it.

          What I found was definitely inspired by God, because I could not have come up with it on my own if I had tried. First of all, a tow truck is also known as a wrecker, a breakdown truck, or a recovery truck. When I read this I thought about the times in my life when I was a nervous wreck, or the times when I felt like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown - the times when I felt completely broken down and alone. The definition of "tow" is to draw, to pull, or to lead. So who was there to draw me out, pull me up, and lead me out of those messes in my life? Who was my recovery? – It was God. Or as I like to refer to him now, my Tow Truck Savior! 
          Towing services are generally provided by an emergency road service operator. So when you find yourself in the middle of a situation where you’re broken down and in need of repair – call up the emergency road service operator. Call up the Tow Truck Savior. My Preacher has told us several times that the Savior's number is 333... Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” 
          Okay, so the next "God thing" I found out about tow trucks is that they are used to transport vehicles to another location (usually a repair garage) or to recover vehicles which are no longer on a drivable surface. As the body of Christ we are vehicles for Christ. We are vessels, used by Him to carry His gospel out to the world. He has plan for us, a road that He wants us to follow. So in those moments when we find ourselves broken down, or in the moments when we get off track from His plan and end up in a ditch somewhere, we can call up the Tow Truck Savior and he will answer us. He will come and draw us out of our mess, pull us up, and lead us forward. He will transport us to another location. He will take us to a place where He can work in our lives. He can repair our brokenness. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When we call out to God, He will put people around us who can encourage us. He’ll put us back on a drivable surface. He’ll lead us, direct our paths, and put us back on a track heading in the direction He has planned for our lives. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

          There are three different types of tow trucks that are used for different types of emergency services. The first is the Hook & Chain tow truck.  eHow.com says,

“For the hook-and-chain tow truck, a boom is attached to the back of the tower's vehicle. A chain with a hook at the end hangs from the boom. The tower can adjust the boom and the chain as needed. The chains and/or hook would be attached to the vehicle's axle. The boom would lift the vehicle up and place the front wheels onto a rubberized area on the back of the truck, while the back wheels are free on the road.” 

I think that far too often when we encounter problems in life our first choice of rescue would be the hook and chain tow truck. We try to adjust God’s answer for us into something that we think is more suitable for our need. We want God to help us, but we don’t want to surrender our lives completely to him. We want to keep those back two wheels free on the road. We think as long as we give part of ourselves to Christ, we’ll be okay. But God doesn't want just part of us, He wants all of us. He wants to carry our burdens for us. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast your cares upon Him, for he cares for you! You see, when we hook onto Christ, but keep those back two wheels on the road, we’re doing more damage than good. Hook & Chain tow trucks are no longer used much nowadays because they end up scratching the bumper of the cars. Don’t let your bumper get scratched by trying to fix the problem on your own... surrender your life completely to Christ and let him fix the broken parts of you. 

          The next type of tow truck is the flatbed. The flatbed truck "can be hydraulically inclined and moved to ground level allowing the vehicle being towed to be placed under its own power or pulled by a winch." I am so thankful that Jesus Christ moved himself to this earthly ground level so that he could repair our brokenness! By coming down to ground level, the car can be placed on the flatbed one of two ways. First it can come up by its own power (just driving up), or if it’s too broken to make it up on it’s own then there is a pully that will help it. I’m so thankful that when I’m broken down to nothing, when I’m weak and I don’t have the strength to pull myself up, that I can look up and see God reaching out to pull me up. When we are powerless, He has the power to lift us up and bring us to safety. He draws us forward, levels us out, secures us, and raises us up on the flatbed. Psalm 62 is an awesome passage that talks about God as our Sold Rock (flatbed) and our power (pulley system).

          The final type of tow truck is the one in the image above. This is the wheel-lift tow truck. Wikipedia says that it, 

“evolved from the hook and chain technology to produce a large metal yoke that can be fitted under the front or rear wheels to cradle them drawing the front or rear end of the vehicle clear of the ground by a pneumatic or hydraulic hoist so it can be towed” 

This type of tow truck evolved from the hook and chain technology because it has less ability to damage the car. The cross keeps us safe from harm! The large metal yoke it is talking about would be that lateral piece. On the cross of Christ, that would have been where His arms were outstretched. His arms cradle us and draw us clear off the ground to be towed. In the arms of his mercy we find rest. Matthew 11:28-30 says, 

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

So what does that word yoke mean? Well literally it means "a bar of wood that’s used to unite two animals allowing them to work in the fields." But figuratively it’s a symbol of slavery, burdens, oppression, and bondage to sin. So with this metaphor of the tow truck God uses a yoke, something that has all of these negative connotations attached to it... burdens, slavery, oppression, bondage to sin… things that normally weigh heavily on you and bring you down. But God says, "I’m going to take these things and I’m going to use them for my glory. Yes you've made some mistakes in the past, but I’m going to take those mistakes that have now been washed in my blood, and I’m going to use them to lift you up. I’m going to cradle you in my arms of mercy. I’m going bring you up, draw you forward, and I’m going to fix the broken parts of you. Then I’ll put you back on the road and you will go to great places. You will be in my will. You will declare my name. You will make disciples of all nations. And when the world catches up with you again, if you ever find yourself broken down again, you just call upon me. I’ll lift you up. I’ll give you rest. Take my burdens upon your shoulders, because they are light. Give me your problems, and I’ll repair them. Cast your cares on me, because I care for YOU!"

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          When I think of brokenness in the Bible, one of the first people I think of (other than Job) is Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. To lament literally means "to mourn aloud, to express sorrow demonstratively." Jeremiah was obviously broken when he wrote this book. He had just personally witnessed the downfall of Judah and the capture of Jerusalem. But even though Jeremiah is writing about sorrow and tragedy, even while he is pouring out his heart to the Lord, he still has hope. Jeremiah has the ability to hope in the midst of such suffering because he has found relief in God's arms of mercy. He has been rescued by the Tow Truck Savior. 
          In Lamentations 3:19-29 Jeremiah is remembering his brokenness. He remembers it because it gives him hope. It's never good to dwell in the past, but every now and then we need to take a little trip down memory lane and remember where God has brought us from. We need to remember the times when we were broken down on the side of the road of life, the times when we called out to God and He came to our rescue. As verse 22 says, it's because of His mercies that we fail not. Our hope is in Christ and His faithfulness. 
          In verse 32 of the same chapter, Jeremiah says "But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." I've always heard the saying "God will never put more on you than you can handle" and I've always believed that to be true. But I heard it from a different perspective the other day. I was reading a devotional by someone who's mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She said that people kept telling her "God will never put more on you than you can handle" but she didn't believe them. She knew what she was feeling, and she knew what her mom was going to be put through in the coming months and years. It all seemed pretty overwhelming. So she began to search the Bible, because she wanted proof that what everyone was telling her was true. However, she never found the proof she was looking for. What she found instead was that "though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion." You see, we're all going to face hard times. And at times, it may seem like it's too much to bear. But Christ tells us to cast our cares on Him. He says for us to take His yoke upon us. Nothing is too much for Christ to bear, and with Him on our side we can endure all things. 
          Skipping down again, in verses 49-58 of the same chapter, Jeremiah is overwhelmed with grief. He is broken down yet again. But when called out, when he called upon the name of the Lord (333)... God, the emergency road service operator, came with the cross-shaped tow truck and pulled him out of the low dungeon. He drew him near. He redeemed his life.
          What is your story of redemption? Do you need to bring it into remembrance so that it will give you hope like it did for Jeremiah? Have you grown complacent in your walk with Christ? Do you need that hope back? Do you even have that joyous hope that only comes from the salvation of God? Search your heart. Maybe you're at a place in your life right now where you're broken down. Maybe you've made some mistakes and you feel stuck in the mess you've made. Let God fix your brokenness. Let him pull you up out of the miry clay. Don't be afraid to call out to Him. Cry out to Him and He will hear you. He will answer you and He will come to your rescue. We serve a Tow Truck Savior... We serve a God who will come down and meet us in the midst of our problems. He will reach out and pull us up out of our pit of despair. He is the lifter of our heads. He'll repair the broken pieces of our heart. He is a God of mercy and love. He will cradle us in His arms, raise us up, and take us to safety. He will bear our burdens, if only we would surrender them to Him.