Inconveniences

When one thing goes wrong, everything seems to go wrong.

There was a big storm in the area. The electricity went out which made the sump pump stop working. I had no back up sump pump. Ended up with a small puddle of water on the basement floor. Went to check the door to the utilities closet where the sump pump is, the door came off its hinges. Went to Ace hardware – because they care and answer any question I have – and bought the replacement hinges. Went back home to fix the door, hammered the upper hinge in, it got stuck. Now what started out as a simple problem turned into a nightmare as I pulled and pulled and pulled on the broken hinge now stuck in the upper portion of the door to the utilities room and keeping me from actually fixing the dumb door.

My dad sat on the patio brooding.

My mother got on her knees and quietly prayed.

And I huffed and puffed and thought a few things I shouldn’t, until I finally mumbled a word of prayer with as little faith as an ant’s breakfast.

Lucky for me it doesn’t take much faith to impress God. All you have to do is actually believe that He is present and He listens.

I won’t keep you hanging. The piece of plastic miraculously came out. I replaced the hinge in the door and managed to hook the door back up. The water on the floor was easy to clean, and I bought a back up sump pump with a battery that just needs to get hooked up before the next electric outage and storm.

When one thing goes wrong, everything seems to go wrong.

Isn’t that the case for most of us on most days? Molehills transform into mountains, and specks become planks. One problem turns into twenty, and tempers flare quicker than a squirrel at the sound of my voice.

Gone are the hours of reading the Bible and memorizing verses like “a soft answer turns away wrath”, or  “a harsh word stirs up anger”, or “whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city”.

Let’s face it. When things go wrong in our lives, the temptation is to think that we’ve done something wrong, or that God has abandoned us.

But that’s not always the case. Inconveniences will come. They are part of life.  And they grow like weeds in your yard. Be prepared for them.

And they are meant to grow your character and your faith in Christ one difficulty at a time.

How do you react when the bottom falls out? Do you panic? Do you yell? Or do you hold it all in until the right person comes your way and you can finally purge those things you’ve been holding back?

The alternative is to pray. It’s easy. It may not come naturally at first. It will feel hypocritical when all you’re really thinking are curse words and ungodly thoughts. But somehow God doesn’t hold it against you when once you turn to him acknowledging that you need him.

That’s what prayer really is. A cry of the heart acknowledging that my way doesn’t work, while God’s does.

When one thing goes wrong, get on your knees, and pray.

Everything else will be ok.

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