One Saturday-about a year after we bought this house- I was enjoying relaxing in the kitchen, sitting in a chair and reading the cartoons on a bright, sunny day. I decided to move out of people’s way as they went back and forth from the living area to the upstairs, so I sat directly under the ceiling fan out of their path. No one bothered me as I sat there laughing and smiling at the graphics, safe in the middle floor of our 1930’s house. I could hear my son using the washroom upstairs as it was directly above my head. All of a sudden, cold water came pouring out over my head soaking me and splashing down onto the paper and the carpeted floor. I screamed, everyone came running, and my hubby yelled for Nate to turn off the water.
When he went to investigate what happened, he discovered the pipes under the upstairs sink weren’t joined properly and were being held together by duct tape which had finally let go!!! Now, I’m all for fast ‘temporary’ fixes using duct tape when needed, but certain things should be permanently fixed as soon as possible, and this was one of those situations. As I type this, there is duct tape and plastic keeping some of our tiles in our tub, but that’s okay because we’ll fix them soon after we find the items needed to do the job, but temporary fixes are just that- temporary. They aren’t meant to last. Surely they aren’t as strong as a permanent fix.
Some of us do that a lot in life- temporary fixes. Instead of getting to sleep on time, we utilize coffee as a ‘stay awake’ mechanism. We stuff dirty pots and pans in the oven because we don’t have time to wash them and company’s coming over. Our eye glasses have tape holding the arm on because we have no time to order new ones. We grab a granola bar or muffin for breakfast on the go since we are running late for work. Life is full of temporary fixes, and they do sometimes ‘tide us over’.
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| NOT a good fix!!! |
These are all quick, temporary fixes that may help us through the day, but they aren’t going to be permanent solutions we need for the kind of relationship we (probably) want with the Lord; after all, who doesn’t want to see God working in their lives fresh and new everyday! But instead of permanently fixing our lingering problems, we quick fix them and are still unsatisfied with our lives. It really comes down to how much we want a more dynamic spiritual life. If we want it bad enough, we will permanently change a few things in our lives. Let’s consider one quick fix of ‘quiet time’ with God:
Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary. 1Ch. 16:27 Amp
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Ps. 16:11
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. Ps. 145:18
Look at all the wonderful things found in the presence of the Lord. Who wouldn’t want them? Yet we quick fix our time with God by other means. No wonder we are not satisfied with our lives! We want to be closer to God, but don’t do what it takes to get there. One day our old duct tape fixes are going to fall apart and we are going to get rained on- in a bad way. A better idea might be to challenge ourselves to a permanent solution today (Make a Change!!!), and I bet we will experience the abundant life Jesus talked about (Jh. 10:10 ).
Lord, please direct us in the path we should go…
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.
Pr. 3:6