The Owner’s Manual

A few weeks ago, I found myself looking through a stack of old Chilton repair manuals. They were dusty, worn, and full of greasy fingerprints from years of use. If you’ve ever worked on an older vehicle, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.

Back then, if something broke, you didn’t pull out your phone and search YouTube. You pulled the correct manual off the shelf. It showed you how everything fit together, how it was designed to work, and what to do when something went wrong.

As I looked at those old manuals, I couldn’t help but think about my dad.

He was the kind of man who believed in fixing things instead of replacing them. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and when he ran into a problem, one of the first things he’d do was reach for the owner’s manual or a Chilton guide. Those books weren’t decorations on a shelf. They were tools that helped him understand how something was designed to function.

It made me wonder…

Why are we so willing to trust a manual for a car, but so reluctant to trust God’s manual for life?

Every day people search for answers. We look to social media, podcasts, self-help books, celebrities, or whatever opinion happens to be trending. Yet many of us leave the one Book written by the One who created us sitting on a shelf.

If God designed us, doesn’t it make sense that He knows how we were created to live?

Life has a way of reminding us that we don’t have all the answers. Relationships become difficult. Health changes unexpectedly. Plans fall apart. We face decisions we never imagined we’d have to make.

In those moments, we’re often tempted to rely on our own understanding.

But God has already given us His Word.

Before opening the Bible, consider how the Gospel of John begins:

John 1:1–5 (KJV)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

The Bible is more than an owner’s manual full of rules. It reveals the One who created us, loves us, and came to rescue us. Every page ultimately points to Jesus Christ, the living Word.

That isn’t just good advice.

It’s instruction from the One who designed us.

As my dad grew weaker, I struggled with anger at first. But over time, I began to understand something deeper. His own mother had already gone home to be with the Lord, and he had no doubt that one day he would see her again.

I will never forget standing at my grandmother’s funeral and watching my dad lean over her, kiss her on the forehead, and softly say, “I’ll see you soon, mom”

He wasn’t speaking wishfully.

He was speaking confidently.

When I first heard those words, I was upset. To me, it sounded like my dad was giving up. I couldn’t understand how someone facing cancer could speak with such peace.

That was fifteen years ago.

Today, I understand what I couldn’t see back then.

My dad wasn’t giving up.

He was once again sharing his faith and his wisdom.

He knew exactly where his mother was.

And he knew exactly where he was going.

Looking back, I realize he had been living the Serenity Prayer all along:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

My dad couldn’t change his diagnosis.

He couldn’t change the fact that his time on earth was growing short.

But he could choose how he would live each remaining day. He chose faith over fear. Peace over anger. Hope over despair.

As believers in Jesus Christ, isn’t that our ultimate hope? This world is not our home. Through Christ, death is not the end of the story. It is the doorway home.

Looking back, I realize my dad wasn’t saying goodbye that day.