Luke 18:5

One of the grocery store dilemmas is the shopping cart with the squeaky wheel. Do I take it back and get another one, or do we squeak all the way through the store?

There is much truth to the words about the squeaky wheel getting the grease, and we should consider them with caution. A little squeak may not require as much attention as we might think. We have become a nation controlled by squeaks; the same is true for modern Christianity. The wagon master can spend the day trying to silence a noise while the folks riding the wagon go ignored.

At first that seems right; “Who wants to listen to squeaking the entire journey?” Sometimes we just must live with the squeak and travel on.

This world will always have burning issues. When I am feeling overwhelmed with some of them, I can watch the people passing by. What I realize is that most people are not at all worried with the things that we often make out to be the “Big Issues of Life.” They are simply trying to get the kids raised, pay the bills, and deal with health concerns and a slew of other problems.

I think back to the years of pastoring; there were always squeaky wheels. Some of them needed attention, others just had to squeak. God knows how to deal with the needs of the wagon; it’s the people in the wagon that He sent us to care for.

Relationships and ministry call for us to discern which wheel is just squeaking for attention and which one really needs cared for; one may be high drama and the other truly broken. Broken wheels and lives can be repaired, but the only fix for chronic squeaking is for someone to step down from the throne of self-importance, and to take the role of a servant.

It is wonderful to know that we don’t have to pray squeaky wheel prayers. The unjust judge may finally give in to such; but God hears and cares even before we pray. Now that’s a halleluiah thought.