Mechanic on Duty

I went to lots of different schools I when I was growing up – seven of them from first grade until I graduated.  Through most of my elementary school years, we lived close enough so that I could walk to school.  Walking to school was not a chore for me – I actually enjoyed it.  When I was in the second grade, I walked to school past a gas station that had a garage attached.  There was a sign out front that said, “Mechanic on duty.”  I had no idea who “Mechanic” was, but it made me feel better and safer somehow just knowing that whoever that happened to be was “on duty.”  I even had a picture in my mind of what “Mechanic” would look like.

One Saturday morning, I was going shopping with my grandmother and we drove past a different gas station.  Guess what I saw out front.  A sign that said, “Mechanic on duty.”  What?!  Mechanic has moved!! Mechanic is now on duty somewhere else!  Is anybody on duty at “my” gas station?  It was a terrible feeling.  Mechanic had let me down and jumped ship.  Why on earth would Mechanic do that?  I needed Mechanic to be “on duty” when I walked back and forth to school.  It was a mystery to me.  What in the world was going on with Mechanic?

So, I decided to ask Daddy about it. I figured my Daddy could help me understand it if anybody could.   I told him about Mechanic being on duty at my gas station and how they advertised it with a sign right out front.  I told him how Mechanic had left me in the cold and moved on to another gas station.  Only, I didn’t have a clue what “mechanic” was, and I pronounced it me-chan-ick.  And I was pretty upset with Mechanic for leaving me in the lurch and not being on duty for me.  Good grief!  Anything could happen if Mechanic wasn’t on duty!  I didn’t know what that might be, but I figured it could be something pretty awful.  Walking to school just wouldn’t be the same.

Daddy explained to me what “mechanic” actually meant.  Are you kidding me?  That’s a person who works on the cars, not someone protecting us?  Who knew?  And there’s more than one Mechanic?!  So, “my” Mechanic is still there!  On duty still, for all the good it would do me.  I was relieved and irritated all at the same time.  It was so nice to know that Mechanic had not deserted me after all.  But, it sure was disappointing to find out that he wasn’t there to offer any kind of protection and that whole “on duty” business hadn’t meant anything even close to what I had thought.  Oh, well.  Walking to school would just be a little riskier.  Good thing that Stubby, my dog, walked to school with me every day.  He might just have to be a stand-in for Mechanic if it came to it.

Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to worry that God might be “on duty” somewhere else when you need Him?  I know that I am.  And I need Him.  Frequently.  Knowing that Mechanic was on duty was a source of comfort for me.  Knowing that God is everywhere is an even greater source of comfort.  I know that wherever I go and whatever my circumstances may be, I am NEVER out of God’s reach.  Nobody will ever have to "stand in" for God.  I know it because He promised me.  He promised you, too!  And while I sit here in the Cancer Center getting my latest treatment, I know He is right here with me.  On duty.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  Isaiah 43:2

I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.  Hebrews 13:5

Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there; if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  Psalm 139:7-10