Driving Force

Recently, a few of us from the Pathway Christian Church have been attending some car shows.  We plan to print up a flyer with a few of out testimonies we can hand out to attendees.  I sat down to reflect on my life and wrote down a few things about my life and my love for the car hobby…

One of the fun things I get to do is to go to car shows to display the 1956 BMW Isetta I have recently restored.  The little car with its big headlights almost looks like it has a smile on its face like on of the cars in the movie “CARS!”   It is always been fun to watch people smile and laugh at the little car.  It makes me smile just seeing them enjoy themselves.  However, my life was not always filled with this much joy.

When I was a kid, the evenings in our home were filed with constant fighting.  But in the daytime, my parents were very nice to each other.  As a child I didn’t understand.  You see my parents were wonderful people but my dad’s declining health probably contributed to them choosing alcohol as the answer to their problems and worries about the future.

As a teenager I was pretty depressed and not a very fun person to be around.  In college I decided to pursue a degree in photography.  Soon I was out taking interesting photos of all kinds of art related subjects.  One of my favorite photo shooting locations was the cemetery.  It was quiet there and one could find beautiful contrasts and shadows among the tombstones.  Some of the older ones had been weathered by time while others were pristine and new.  Perhaps my preference to work with my camera in the cemeteries was because no one was there to yell, scream or argue.  Perhaps my love for the cemetery was because it was an expression of how dead and empty my own life was and how I was headed down a path of self-destruction.

During this same time I became interested in cars. My dad was a gifted mechanic who passed on his love for engines and cars to me.  Again, I think that my car was a tool just like my camera that allowed me to escape or to feel like I was really in control of my life.

Fortunately, while I was a student at Arizona State University, I met some fellow students who encouraged me attend a Bible study and made me think about my relationship to God.  I wanted the peace that these friends had in their lives and I soon embraced Jesus Christ as my Savior.  Some people talk about how they suddenly feel like a weight was lifted off their shoulders and for me that was exactly what I felt like. Later I learned that this was the weight that we all carry ourselves until we decide to turn our lives over to Jesus.  Just like a compact car trying to tow a semi-trailer, it was a weight we were never meant to bear.

My favorite Bible verse is II Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, all old things are passed away all things are become new.

I guess the reason I can identify with that verse is my old life of depression really did leave when I came to faith in Christ.  Like anyone else, I still have problems.  But I can face these with God’s help.

I had to realize that neither my cars nor my camera or any other created thing can really address the core issues of life.  Only God can do that.  He has allowed my cars and camera to remain an important part of my life and a great source of enjoyment, but my real driving force has become getting to know Him better and trusting Him more.      

Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Church
Riverside, CA