Broken Shelves and Broken Spirits Can Be Repaired!

On a recent laundry day, I was placing clean rags on a wire shelf, in the laundry room. Suddenly, I heard the sound of ripping dry wall. Oh yes. The entire seven foot shelf, and its contents, suddenly landed on the floor! The room was littered with muddy shoes, cleaning supplies, a dirty rag basket, and a clean rag bin. As the dust literally settled, I realized that the shelf itself hadn’t broken. The supports had simply ripped out of the wall. I shouldn’t have been surprised…this shelf had required several small repairs in the past. However, the shelf had never actually crash landed, until this very busy day! Phil decided to step it up a notch with this repair, attaching the supports directly to wooden studs in the wall. The original intent for use of the shelf, had been for it to hold a few dirty shoes as we came into the house. As time went by, and we found more uses, we had not strengthened the supports as weight was added. That mistake took its toll! After Phil did a stellar repair, my job was to fill in the old holes, and clean up the debris.

As I was on the floor, looking at the mess, I started laughing out loud, and found that I was actually pleased that the shelf had come down! I had a chance to see behind all the junk we stored there, and realized there were several repairs needed, that had been neglected through the years. I found unfilled holes, a crack in the baseboard, dust on the shelf, dirt on the wall, and a great need for paint, due to scuff marks from the shoes. There were old dry wall anchors that needed to be removed as well. Since we had recently discussed, in class at church, how our faith holds up to stress and trauma in our lives, I couldn't help but smile at the correlation I was seeing.

When crisis comes our way, it can give us an opportunity to see things from a different point of view. When we're down on the floor, at the lowest points in our lives, we can look up, and see from a different vantage point! Sometimes, our own lack of preparation, or lack of attention to problems along the way, can cause a crisis. Other times, things just happen, beyond our control. Sometimes, we patch over things, as we had done for years, rather than actually fixing them. Have you ever done this with problems?
Just ignoring them, hoping they'll go away? There can be a temporary “happiness” when we shove problems aside, without facing them. But, there’s no comparison to the outcome, of finally meeting the problem head on, and finding the best way to handle the situation. As Christians, we can strengthen our lives with very strong supports, such as study and incorporation of the Word in our lives, growing in our prayer lives, developing strong bonds with other Christians, and reaching out to others. We prepare for whatever is thrown onto us. Even if we break, we can be repaired, and lifted back up by our support system! And, while down on the floor, we might see the good that can come from the bad. Romans 8:18, and Romans 8:28, tell us that our present sufferings in no way compare with the glory that will be revealed to us, and that all things work together for good, to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Some of that good may never be seen by us, but because our Lord is almighty and faithful, we believe what he has told us, and we can find peace, by leaving it up to him.


- by Becky
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