Smooth Water
“Chaplains Blog Book … San Diego Bay Fair… Part II”
Mark & Clifva Budke
Whenever there are crashes at an event, our hearts are always touched in some form or fashion. Sometimes it’s like our hearts are torn open a little…until we see how the driver has come through the horrifying ordeal.
The sermon title for the IHBA San Diego race was “The Heart, Our Heart, How is your Heart?” Scripture reminds us “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” (Matthew 5:4, 8).
With the seriousness of the crash of Fred Hart on Saturday, my already prepared sermon touched on the fourth and eight verse of Matthew. I talked about Fred Hart’s grandson Isaiah, and a baby’s pure heart. A baby’s heart is still in the forming stage and really doesn’t know what a broken heart is…yet?
Is your heart hardened? Is your heart broken? Is your heart callused? Is your heart pure? Here are some human heart facts; a women’s heart beats faster than a man’s heart. A human heart can create enough pressure that it can squirt blood a distance of thirty feet. In one day your heart beats one hundred thousand times. And in one year it beats over thirty-six million times. And over the course of a lifetime, it beats two and a half billion times.
During your lifetime, your heart will pump one million barrels of blood. As an adult your pulse beats an average of seventy times per minute. So, how fast do you think your heart is beating when you’re on the starting line and you just mashed the throttle down?
And it’s not just the racers heart, how about the heart rate of the spouse, the children, the owner, the mechanics, and the sponsors. Racing drag boats…means racing heart beats too!
Let’s take another look at our hearts, “A mans heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps,” (Proverbs 16:9). How many times have we thought; this is definitely the way for me to go (i.e. our own chosen way) only to run smack into a dead end? Have you ever been scammed by someone, have you ever been disappointed in something, had a few broken dreams? I wanted to be a motocross star (but I didn’t make it). Many people say “I like it right where I am,” but is that really what God wants for you?
I am a blessed man, with a blessed family, living in a blessed country. When we moved to California many years ago, God really started to work in our lives. We went through a cult church (unknown to us at first), and learned from that experience that God was with us, and He got us out of there. Then we were fortunate enough to get into a great church, and we were able to take the lead role for a mountain bike ministry for about eight years.
God was really blessing us—a big home, a swimming pool, a nice RV, a few desert toys to play with. But I figured that somewhere down the line, there was going to be a test for me and I didn’t know at that time if my heart was strong enough to pass the test.
Then in 2004, it happened, and that year became the year of our family tests. My wife Clifva had a very bad quad accident way out in the southern California desert. Watching my soul mate fly off in a helicopter was no fun. Then we began to see God’s miracles were flowing in our direction on this test run…as she somehow survived a serious and harrowing life and death experience.
Next an unwanted case of breast cancer arrived. More miracles showed up on our doorstep, but the difficulties showed up too. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was to shave off my wife’s beautiful blonde hair. But God showed us that He was definitely with us on this test too.
We learned that when God permits trials, He also provides comfort. We definitely gave all of our pain to God. You can’t drink your pain away, you can’t smoke your pain away, and you can’t snort your pain away. God is both the Healer and the Comforter for all our pains, but he also brings others along to be His hands and feet.
“We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them,” (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).
Never forget that standing firm in the Lord makes it harder for Satan to get a hand or foot hold on us. “For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord,” (1 Thessalonians 3:8).
It’s always hard to have fun in the midst of our trials and tribulations, but the Bible is clear on how we should live out these difficult times that we all go thought. Jesus’ half brother James wrote about how we should deal with the sorrows of life. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of any kind, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and will be given to him,” (James 1:2-5).
Sometimes a Sheppard out in the fields will intentionally let his sheep struggle on their own to gain some valuable lessons about perseverance. During the course of your life, you’ll have to persevere with some kind of situation. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him,” (James 1:12). This crown of life is by far the best trophy of a lifetime. And it’s one that is always worth striving for.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls,” (1: Peter 1:6-9).
Clifva had to suffer grief of all kinds, but we got to see and feel the inexpressible and glorious joy (of the Lord) because of what we went through together. God showed both of us a little slice of heaven. God does not just comfort us so we will become comfortable; we are comforted by God so we might be comforters to others.
My wife and I have been working with “Relay for Life.” And at one event we were told of a couple that had just been told that the wife has breast cancer, we were on a mission to get to them, to comfort them, and to tell them to give God all your pain, and He will help get you through this difficult time in your lives. “God who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble, with the comfort we ourselves have received from God,” (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Gods has an awesome love for all of you racers. “And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comforts,” (2: Corinthians 1:7).
Let’s all be thankful that Kent Price came through his crash remarkable well, and Fred Hart survived a scary one, and is now recovering after some serious injuries…but both men (and their families) can take comfort in knowing how much the Lord cares for them and loves them.
God doesn’t like to see His children injured, but He does take delight in seeing how well they can get through the tough times of life, and shine brightly with thanksgiving that there were those who cared for those who needed His comfort…and received it openly.
God created a breakable heart for mankind, so he built a roll cage (your rib cage) around it to protect it. Our injured racer’s hearts were protected physically for their benefit and for the benefit of their families.
What are you doing to help protect your own heart from a hardened world? There are more than physical things that are trying to get at your heart. The mental and emotional aspects of the heart are even more vulnerable, as they come in through the eyes, ears, and mind.
Therefore, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take,” (Proverb 3:5-6).
If you have any calluses on our heart, I pray that the cool ocean air, the wonderful sea breezes, and the Word of God that we shared and enjoyed in San Diego were the first step in allowing the Lord to soften your heart to the extent that you have a new and exciting purpose to live for.
A happy heart is a healthy heart. We pray that the “King of Hearts,” Jesus Christ, deals you a royal flush that your heart cannot resist…for all eternity. Don’t hide your eternal bet, just go all in! | 
