
This is a season of fixing things. That seems to be the theme on a national scale, and is certainly true for me personally.
Our son and his wife recently bought their first house – a ‘fixer-upper.’ The past month has been busy with repairs, replacements and remodeling, in addition to all the other packing and moving tasks that go into a home move. It’s hard work, but happy work.
At the same time all this is going on, I’m also in the process of final edits for my latest book. There are similarities between both efforts – book edits are also about repairs, replacements and remodeling.
All of this ‘fixing’ has me thinking about some of the endless repair work that God is also doing -- tirelessly fixing our lives.
There's a scene at the end of season one In The Chosen[1], where the disciples have lost track of Jesus somewhere in Samaria and go looking for him. They finally find him underneath an ox cart, repairing a broken axle. Although the scene is an embellishment on what’s recorded in the Gospels, it is true to the character of Jesus that we see recorded there. I love this picture of Him.
God became a man. This fact is extraordinary by any definition. But the ‘God became’ part can sometimes obscure the rest of the sentence: ‘…a man.’ Not a wealthy and privileged man, not a priestly religious man, not a king. Just an average man – a guy who repairs chairs and wagon axles as a favor, fills boats with fish, and makes blind men see.
“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ~ John 5:17 NIV
Part of what Jesus revealed about God is His constant propensity to work. Stop and think of the work He has done in your life.
As we walk with the Lord and look honestly at ourselves, it can sometimes feel like there are more things that are broken than working. We need repairs. When discouragement creeps in, it’s incredibly encouraging to think of the work that He has done for us and in us.
Has He been with you in sickness? Has He comforted you in loss? Has He met financial needs when there seemed to be no earthly way? Has He worked in the heart of a child that you prayed for? Has He been your anchor in life’s most terrible storms?
When we’re going through one of those times when everything in life feels broken, we can be tempted to think that we’re not on God’s list of favorites. We begin to wonder if God even knows about the mess we’re in, the burdens we bear.
It helps to remember that God is a builder. His work never stops. Whatever we’re going through is on His blueprint for our life. Just look back at the work He’s already done and trust that the current demolition project will end in a glorious new structure – one that’s fit for Heaven.
[1] The Chosen – the TV series about Jesus’ life from Angel Studios,
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