Is everything in place?

The problem was obvious and the solution was simple – or so I thought.   

The door of the fridge had been like this for the last few weeks and they had been propping it up with a small piece of cardboard.  

A small screw that held the hinge had broken, the hinge had dropped and so had the door.  This caused a large gap which made everything go haywire and the fridge couldn’t do its job and everything inside would have been ruined.  All it needed was the right screw. 

So I emptied the fridge, laid it on its back, located the problem, fitted the screw and that was that…except it wasn’t. 

A couple of hours later the same thing happened and there was the door, hanging off again! I realised my mistake, the screw I had fitted looked OK but it wasn’t up for the job; something larger and stronger was needed.

Something, that could stand the test of time and not let me (and everyone else) down.

I fitted the larger, stronger screw and sure enough, everything was now OK.  

This made me think about the problem we all share; the gap between who we want to be and who we really are. 

You and I know that we fall short of our own expectations and the Bible reminds us that we fall short of God’s expectation for us (Romans 3:23).  This ‘gap’ causes us all sorts of problems and the contents of our lives and the impact we cause have the potential of being totally ruined.  

This Easter reminds us that there is an answer, you cannot choose a ‘screw’ of your own making it has to be strong enough for the task.

All you have to do is ask and He will hold your life in place.

Far better for you!

It was dropped at my front door and I was quite excited. 

The side of the box described it as “Wrought Iron & Teak Park Bench” and I thought that it would fit really well in ‘pride of place’ in the corner of the front garden. 

I knew that it was in pieces and it was raining when it was delivered, so I waited for a couple of days before assembling it.  Everything was going fine until I opened the box. 

All the pieces were present and correct; the legs were elegant and more than suitable but then came the problem.

The only way I can describe the back of the bench (the bit that everyone would see) is to say that it was a reject from the house of the Seven Dwarves (and not the digitally remastered version!)

In the midst of a beautiful timber frame was this hideously, hand-painted conglomeration of brightly coloured flowers and patterns.  It seemed to scream loudly at you as you tried to look away – you didn’t want to look…but you couldn’t help yourself! 

After my initial shock, the laughter set in and I proceeded to share the fun as I showed my kids, my wife and anyone else who has visited my garage since.  (It could make an ideal gift for someone this Christmas!!) 

Most of the time when you buy something it will meet your expectations, occasionally an item will greatly exceed them, but now and then you find something, like my park bench, that falls dreadfully short of the mark.   

In 29 years of following Christ I have found that He has exceeded my expectations on a consistent and regular basis. 

So I would encourage you to not settle for a gaudy or badly designed life, when Christ has something far better for you!