I hate waxing cars. In fact, I don’t even do it. I know of guys who will spend their entire Saturday polishing and waxing their cars. My next door neighbor is that kind of guy. He tells me that he is in “love” with his cars and this is his way of taking care of them. I’m serious; he really “loves” his cars. He even has names for them but I didn’t ask.
Do you know who else hates waxing cars? Daniel Larusso. Who? Daniel Larusso. You may know him better as Daniel-son, from the “Karate Kid” movies. It’s the classic story of a teenage boy trying to fit into a new environment and how he deals with the bullies in his school. One night, he is jumped by a group of guys from his school that happens to be well versed in Karate. It’s on this night though that Daniel is saved by the manager of his apartment complex who just so happens to be even better versed in this same art. A friendship is born between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
The training method set forth by Mr. Miyagi is unique and one that does not make sense to Daniel. Day after day, Mr. Miyagi has young Daniel-son wax his cars, sand his floors, paint his fence, and paint the house. Day after day Daniel asks his teacher when he is going to learn Karate and day after day it seems to fall on deaf ears. Do you ever feel that way? You ask God over and over and he never seems to answer? One night Daniel finally reached his limit and after giving Mr. Miyagi a piece of his mind he decides to walk out. Mr. Miyagi, seeing the frustration in his young pupil, decides to provide a great teaching moment. Standing face to face he asks Daniel to show him, sand the floors, wax the cars, paint the fence, and paint the house. Daniel demonstrates these motions until Mr. Miyagi is satisfied. It is then that the teacher begins to test the student by throwing a series of punches and kicks that Daniel blocks by using the motions that he has been learning. You’ve heard of the expression; “the eyes tell the story?” In that moment, Daniel realizes that everything that felt pointless finally had purpose.
Every one of you reading this article has a calling on your life. And every one of you will go through some seasons where you feel what you are doing is pointless and has no eternal value. You, like Daniel, will want to walk out of that season. If I could encourage you to do one thing it is to stay the course and keep your eyes on Jesus. You see, Mr. Miyagi had to continually tell Daniel to keep his eyes on him and to focus. Daniel had learned much but there was still much more to learn.
At the end of the movie, and in true Hollywood form, Daniel ends up beating the reigning champion in the final match by using an unorthodox “crane” technique. It looks absolutely silly but it does the trick.
You are called to do great and mighty things for God in your life.
You have to be willing to sand the floors, wax the cars, paint the fence, paint the house, and always keep your eyes focused on Jesus! There is a purpose in the waxing! Your time will come and all of life’s adventures will have been for a purpose.