For some reason, many electrical items in our house have recently quit working. First, the internet router went, then the fan and light in the office shorted out, and after that, the humidifier made some awful noises and passed on. Thankfully, my husband, Neil is a great handyman.
Because of my hearing loss, service calls using the phone now all fall on Neil’s broad shoulders. So, after seemingly forever-lasting holds and even a few callbacks, about a week after he started the process, we had a new router for the computer, and we now have steady internet. The other two items required only a visit to the home center, after which Neil handily replaced them himself.
It is a wonder why things fail in multiple numbers, but we see it often in life. I am thinking of the delightful married couple where one has gotten sick and passed on and the other, who was visibly healthy, passes quickly afterward. That happened to my grandparents. I doubt that works with electrical appliances, but it made me think of all that is lifted up and what breaks down around us in our world.
When, in our world and our nation, we deny God the power and authority He actually has over us, things are bound to break down. On the other hand, as we lift up our faith and seek our God with all our heart, we strengthen our small part of the universe and every person that we interact with in our Christian lives.
Can you think of at least one person who has broadened your faith horizons or lifted you up into a higher level of belief just by their words and actions? I can think of several. If you never had anyone that mentored you in the faith, whether intentionally or not, you have missed an important and exciting adventure of fellowship.
When we join together in our physical church as a fellowship of believers, the more mature believers surely affect the younger believers if they interact together. When Neil and I first came to Ocean City, our church had a delightful gathering once a month called Spares & Pairs. It was a potluck dinner with fun meet-and-greet-type games for interactions between the tables of diners. From those interactions, we became friends with two married couples who were very strong in their faith and who were also close friends with each other.
Neil and I were most likely 20 years younger than they were, but they took us under their collective wings, and we owe much of our spiritual growth to these saints who have now gone to be with Jesus. Because of these connections, I think of the church as doing home repair.
If we are interacting faithfully with believers who are more mature than us, we are being mentored. If we are striving to learn more about our Lord with others of the same level of knowledge, we are challenging and lifting each other up, as we learn, and share, and love each other. More home repairs.
Neil and I became part of a small group Bible study with the two older couples, and we learned much from them because every life experience we, or they, brought up was a learning time in how to see God in everything. God is not just a Sunday God, but He is with us 24/7, and we need to be with and acknowledge Him 24/7.
We now attend another small group Bible study, which ranges in ages from the 20s to the 70s. What a joy to be a part of this group that can learn as we share our trials and triumphs of faith in our God.
It is exciting to build and repair in the House of the Lord.
Things break in our lives, just as they fail in our homes, but God is the ultimate fixer of souls and the great physician. Right now, we are praying for one of our Bible study members who just had open heart surgery, and we are also lifting up some friends who need to make life-changing decisions as they age.
Life is full of broken people. If we are letting God be the one directing the fix-up and repair, we will be all the better for it, and the people we interact with daily will witness what God can do with our broken bodies, spirits, and souls as He knits us back to wholeness.
It would be my challenge to each Christian to be a part of the repair process for our world and neighborhood. By lifting up our God to His rightful place in our lives, we are witnessing to others the beauty of a life committed to the ways taught by Jesus.
By our actions, we can help the world heal from unbelief as we spread the light of God to the darkest places.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
