I saw the most interesting thing in the drive thru the other day, and God taught me SUCH a lesson in it.  A customer drove up with her daughter, who was around ten.  After I confirmed their order, got their money, and started assembling their food, I noticed the daughter was holding a mallet like the one pictured.  Jokingly I asked if they were going to use it on me or the window if their order wasn’t right, and they both laughed and assured me that no, that wasn’t the purpose!

Seeing the still curious look on my face, the mother explained that their air conditioner compressor wasn’t working right, and would occasionally quit.  When it did, the daughter (who demonstrated!) would take the mallet and hit the dash, and the compressor would cut on again for a short while.  Then they would repeat as needed each time it quit!  The mom told me “I don’t have the $300 it would take to fix it!”.

So.  That was all well and good, because we’ve all been there…not able to afford car repairs, house repairs, and even medical “repairs” because we didn’t have the money.  However, as I looked at her, I noticed the arm and shoulder full of tatoos…and the pack of cigarettes on the seat.  I also noticed the electronics in the car…ipad, tablet, etc.  It occured to me that maybe that $300 wasn’t available because of a lack of priorities, OR willingness to sacrifice “wants” for “needs”.

Now while I do not know that this was true, it was plausible.  Just as I was feeling somewhat smug or proud that I did not have those issues, God spoke to my heart and “hammered me” (pun intended) with some sobering truth.

This lady and her family were willing to take along a somewhat heavy mallet, and experience great inconvenience to carry it at all times, have occasions where the compressor quit and they got hot, and hope and pray each time that the striking of the mallet would work. Silly, right?  AND YET!!  How many times, God asked me, are we the same way in our Christian walk? How many times does HE have the solution to our problems but we are afraid or unwilling to go to HIM and get them fixed?  After all, it might cost us something….$300 worth of humility, repentance, schedule changes, priority readjustments, or obedience!

There are many times in my life, and I am sure I am not alone, when I’d rather live with a broken air compressor (sin or rebellion), and carry around any mallet I can find – advice from others, a Christian book, turning over a “new leaf” – to hopefully fix what’s wrong!  It is so much easier, I reason, to limp along with something broken in my life, than bring it to the Great Physician who can fix everything..because then I don’t have to spend ($300) or sacrifice anything (electronics, tatoos, etc) and I can get by.

But guess what?  A Christian limping along through life that way is no more effective, or permanent, as a witness and disciple, as that air compressor.  The only way to fix that air conditioner is to take it to the shop and have the compressor replaced.  And the only way to fix a broken life is to bring it to the Shop of Jesus’ grace and mercy, and replace the sin with repentance.  May we all have the courage and willingness to do that as we face this challenging world we live in!