Whoever never acknowledges the overall authority of the Lord, whether due to simple ignorance or outright refusal, remains subjected to the flawed authority of others.

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AN OIL FIELD STORY

I spent several years working on oil and gas rigs in Texas. One time many years ago I was working on a lousy little rig in the far south part of the state in that early contested area between the Nueces and Rio Grande. This was not a high dollar rig and was thus staffed with lesser clientele. It was during my early days when I was still learning the various nuances of my profession before I moved on to the much newer and much better Cadillac rigs.

The old rig was located out in the relatively unpatrolled badlands. I can’t remember the particulars but it was a lower class operating company that could only afford a lower class drilling rig which could only afford lesser clientele. I think you may get the picture here though it is virtually impossible to explain working on a rig to someone that’s never been on one or worked on one. Starting out on such rig sites is a good education toward certain elements of the industry, one of which is that one better keep working up the ladder or probably just move on down the road. In my case I had no choice at the time and had to stick it out.

Another cost saving measure is the quality of the company man. Again, for those who don’t know, the company man is the on-site man hired by the operating company to ride herd on the rig. He is like the captain of a ship. In the oil field he is the absolute on-site boss. In later years I met and worked with some fine men who knew their stuff and knew how to treat other men. Those lesser company men were different. They were not good enough to work the better rigs. You get what you pay for, as they say. (Regarding such pay, the best company men were getting upwards of fifteen hundred dollars a day back then.) Even so, most of those lesser guys were alright but an observant man like myself quickly understood why they were working for lower pay on lousy rigs in not so great locations. I didn’t know it at the time because I had no frame of reference.

Anyway, proceeding with the story, on that one particular well, the company man was not just among the lower class of company men but also had a big screw loose somewhere in his fat cranial region. He wasn’t just a brick shy of a load but several pallets of bricks shy. Though somewhat subtle when all was cruising, one could see the brick deficiency a tad better not long after one’s initial acquaintance. When things were not going so well which always happens on a rig to varying degrees, especially on a rig of this kind with a clientele of that kind, this man’s cranial deficiency was soon on full display. One of his episodes came my way one night…

By the way, oil and gas rigs operate twenty four hours a day. The work never stops though there may be occasional delays. The days are usually divided into two twelve hour shifts starting at 6am and 6pm though some might break at midnight and noon. In the industry, though, these shifts are never referred to as shifts. They’re called “towers.” But this word is spelled tours. Even so, it has always been pronounced towers. In other words a man works his tower. It may be the day tower or the night tower. For those that can read, however, all the paperwork says tours. There are many things like this in the oil field that hearken back to the very early days of the industry.

This means there are two full crews working the rig, a day crew and a night crew. One crew works while the other crew sleeps. It works the same with other personnel. This sometimes includes company men. The usual protocol, though, was one company man on the site working a two week shift. He was allowed sleep time as he could get it but must always be available for whatever may occur.

On this particular lousy rig in the badlands of far south Texas the operating company could only afford so much for a rig boss so they had to dip into their bag of dregs. He was supposed to be always available but really wasn’t. He slept at night. He was supposed to be on call at all times but this particular individual paid no attention to that and slept through the night regardless of what was happening on the rig. Everyone learned to fend for themselves because he made it clear that he was never to be awakened under any circumstances.

But no one on the rig passed on this most important piece of information to me. Well, because I was still in the early days of learning my craft as what they called “third party personnel” and was working the night tower, something pretty serious happened one night that demanded the company man’s attention. Again, because I was not wise to the rig protocol though was otherwise well trained and knew the company man must be told of the occurrence, I went over to his office which also was his lodgings and knocked on the door (unless a man tells you otherwise you never just walk in). I guess you may surmise what happened next. Not only did I wake him up but I raised his dander to full tilt and he pretty much went native. I could then see very well that the man was a certifiable nutcase. No man ever treated me like that before but because I could not risk my job and was a Christian I could not take a chance on beating the ever living tar out of him though I think the Lord would understand and not hold it against me but the company I worked for probably not so much.

So I had to take his guff. It’s hard for a real man to take the guff of a lesser man only because he is higher on the totem pole. When I got off tower and went to my motel room I didn’t take long to inquire of the Lord just what I should do about this. That’s when I learned once again about THE PRESIDING AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS. He told me something really cool during that prayer time. It was by His inspiration that I received the revelation. So I prayed a really great prayer:

“Lord, you know I am submitted to your authority. But I also have to be submitted to the crazy man’s authority. So I ask you Lord to take full authority over him so when I submit to him I am submitting to someone who is under full submission to Your authority even though he does not know that and this will allow You to take authority over him for my sake and work your will in the situation.”

The next day I went to work. The man’s attitude toward me had changed. It even appeared as though he was somehow better in the head. He was now treating me with the respect I deserved all along and even appeared to have a better nature. We actually began getting along just fine. I never had any problem with him again and completed the well.

This is why wise people submit themselves 100% to the Lord Jesus. When the authority structure is lined up the way the Lord wants it everything goes better and it all works out.

All praise to You, My Father. Amen.

© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]