Recently, I walked into our guest bathroom and flipped on the overhead light and was greeted with the startling sound of marbles being crushed in a meat grinder. Seriously? The exhaust fan in the ceiling light was toast. I only installed that light/fan combo a couple of years ago. Come on, man! I mean you would think that a bathroom exhaust fan should be good for a couple of decades, right? The one before it lasted 25 years! Replacing it isn’t that hard… but it is another chore added to my weekly list.
Last Sunday night Lauri plugged the air fryer into a wall outlet and there was a loud pop, followed by sparks… and then half of the kitchen electricity blinked out. You have got to be kidding me. Not a huge deal, I removed the now fried electrical outlet and installed a new one and everything started working again. Of course, I got SHOCKED in the process. I HATE getting shocked… hate it! Getting shocked doesn’t hurt so much as it scares the living daylights out of me! Seriously, I would rather be driving on a dark country road alone in the middle of the night and round a bend and find Michael Meyers standing in the middle of the road than get shocked — it would scare me less!
Tuesday our sewer line to our septic tank plugged up. “Sigh” I need a vacation. I rented a power snake and hit that plug at 90 feet down the drain, and then spent 2 hours trying to break it up with that snake to no avail. (I know what you are thinking, “Just what do you flush down your toilets? I don’t know.) A professional with a hydro line was able to clear things up for us the next day.
Wednesday after working at the church all day, I cautiously opened the front door of the house and peeked my head in and asked Lauri, “Did anything break today?” So far so good. When it rains it pours, right?
While I admit our run of home repairs was kind of annoying, at least they were problems that we could solve — either by myself or seeking a professional. But what do you do when you are faced with a problem that you cannot solve on your own? Some things are just beyond our ability to fix. Maybe it’s a medical diagnosis or a broken relationship… perhaps it is concern for a loved one’s needs or some other issue that effort will not cure. What do we do then?
David wrote: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 34:17 The reality is when Christians are faced with seemingly insurmountable trouble; we have access to the perfect problem solver — The Sovereign Lord.
You know, in home repairs there is nothing wrong with trying to fix things yourself before you call a pro… I’m a pretty handy man. Sure, I spent a couple hours trying to snake out my sewer drain only to eventually surrender and call Mr. Rooter — but I wouldn’t call that wasted time. But… I sure have wasted some time trying to solve trouble in my life, when I first should have sought out the Lord.
Pride ought never keep the believer from crying out to the Lord. God loves it when we demonstrate our dependance upon him to meet our needs. And when we cry out to him? He hears us. One day, trouble will be so far in your rearview mirror that you won’t even remember what it was like. I mean, who will remember an illness or a financial struggle… or whatever… on day 34,873 in Heaven? Crying, mourning, sickness and death — all gone. The Lord Jesus will deliver us from all our troubles. You know, come to think of it… maybe I should have cried out to the Lord over my sewer line clog… now there would be a deliverance!
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