Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory. [Psalm 50:15 (NLT)]
Sign painted on the side of a plumber’s truck: “We repair what your husband tried to fix!”
My husband managed to track tar into the house on the bottom of his shoes. Unfortunately, he tracked it right onto the new bedroom carpet! I immediately got out a whole battery of chemicals and tried to clean it up. Needless to say, my efforts didn’t improve the situation; in fact, they only made it worse. In desperation, we did what we should have done in the first place: we got the name of a good carpet cleaner and called him. He spent as much time cleaning up the residue from my failed efforts as he did cleaning up the tar.
I suspect many of us have tried a home repair only to end up in bigger trouble than when we started. Most of us simply don’t have the expertise for appliance repair. We’re not licensed plumbers, electricians, or HVAC contractors but, unfortunately, many of us think we are! Rather than admit we’re in over our heads, we tend to fumble and bungle and take the situation from bad to worse. When we finally come to our senses and call in the experts, they not only have to fix the initial problem but also the damage done in our failed attempts at repair.
It’s not just in our homes that we find things that need cleaning, adjusting, repair, or renovation. Often, there’s something in our personal lives that is faulty, damaged, worn-out, or broken. Just as Christians aren’t immune from leaky roofs, clogged drains, and damaged drywall, we’re not immune to things like depression, addiction, anxiety, PTSD, eating disorders, or marital problems. At first, we may ignore the issue the way we ignore a dripping faucet or the squealing sound from the washing machine. Then, once we finally admit there’s a problem, we’re prone to say, “I’ve got this!” when we truly don’t.
Before making things worse, however, we might want to think about calling on the number one life repairman and restoration specialist: God. It takes a fair amount of humility to finally admit that something in our life isn’t working and we just can’t fix it on our own. God, however, truly is the answer to our prayers. Simply consulting His repair manual (the Bible) and several prayer sessions with Him could be all we need. On the other hand, God often steers us toward some expert earthly assistance, as well.
Perhaps I’m dating myself, but do you remember the old Maytag advertisements with the lonely repairman sitting idly by just waiting for a call? With nothing to repair, he was said to be “the loneliest guy in town.” Maytag appliances may not have needed much repair, but our messed-up lives often do. As soon as we realize that we’ve got a problem with the way they’re functioning, let’s not hesitate; make that call to the expert before it gets any worse. God is heaven’s repairman; He is always there to rescue us. Just give Him a call!
Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father’s house. [William Gurnall]
When someone has an unduly optimistic or positive view of things, they are often said to be wearing “rose-colored glasses.” According to Adam Anderson, a University of Toronto professor of psychology, our moods do affect the way we see things and, as moods change, so does our visual perception. “Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates,” says the professor about a 2009 study he conducted. “In a positive mood,” he explained, “our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision.” He concluded that the better our mood, the better able our brains are to comprehend what it is our eyes are seeing. In short, we see better when we have a positive outlook of “rose-colored glasses”!
I think of Jesus’ instructions every time I pack for a trip! Take only what I’ve got on my back and the one pair of shoes on my feet? He’s got to be kidding! When we’re taking a trip, wanting to be prepared for any eventuality, it seems like I pack everything but the kitchen sink!
When my eldest grand took advanced calculus, I could neither understand what she was doing nor the purpose in doing it (other than gaining entrance into a good university). The following year, she took something called discrete math. Since I was thinking “discreet,” I couldn’t understand how numbers could be cautious or prudent. Even when she explained “discrete” means “individually separate and distinct” and discrete math is the basis for much of computer science, statistics, and programming, I remained in the dark. Fortunately, I wasn’t the one taking SATs and making application to colleges, so I didn’t need to make sense of her difficult curriculum.
Although the common position for prayer was standing, Jesus fell to His knees that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke describes Him as praying so intensely that His sweat dropped like blood. Having used the word hósei, meaning “as if it were, like, as, as though, or much like,” Luke may have meant Jesus sweat so profusely that it dripped from Him like blood. Nevertheless, Luke was a doctor who paid great attention to detail; he may have described hematidrosis, a rare medical condition in which the capillaries rupture causing blood to seep into the sweat glands and then out onto the skin. It’s caused by high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or extreme distress or fear, such as facing abuse, torture or death on the cross! Whether Jesus’ sweat poured off his body as if it were blood or He literally sweat blood, the Lord’s prayer was so intense that an angel came and strengthened Him.
