Making Repairs by the Manual

            Water mysteriously appeared on the kitchen floor daily until Kathy discovered it was coming from the refrigerator. She put a towel in the bottom to collect the water and wrung it out every couple of days. That worked for some while. Then she noticed the refrigerator was not keeping food very cold. I adjusted the thermostat control and that seemed to take care of the matter. Then one day the milk was luke-warm, and the ice cream in the freezer compartment had melted. But the refrigerator motor, compressor and fan were all working!

            We emptied the refrigerator and freezer compartment, I removed the freezer liner to get at the vitals, and I found the freezer coils were jam-packed with ice. I defrosted it, suspecting a frozen drain line had kept the water from escaping when the freezer self-defrosted. When I cleaned the line, I thought I had solved the problem. Two weeks later it happened again, so I went through the process again, this time also cleaning the coils and pan under the refrigerator. "Success," I thought. Two weeks later it happened again. Frustration set in because I had done all I knew. Still, I could not figure out why it was building up frost.

            While at the mall with our family, I went in a bookstore (a regular ritual for most preachers) and saw a book by an appliance repairman. I looked through the book, and seeing he knew something about refrigerator problems I bought the book. He narrowed the problem down to two causes, neither of which I had considered. I purchased a defrost timer motor and installed it in the refrigerator. It has been working fine since. I have a small sense of elation having conquered this problem without purchasing a new refrigerator. It may occur again, but I now have instructions to help me take care of it.

            Far too many of us go through life handling problems as I did the refrigerator trouble. At first, we ignore it hoping it will go away. Then we try some quick fix that provides some relief but does not address the problem. It may even intensify the problem. As the problem grows worse, we become more serious about fixing it. We try what we know how to do, that which seems sensible to us. When that does not clear things up, we may even ask someone for advice. By this time, the problem has become very intense, even critical. Now we have placed friendships at risk or even endangered our marriage. Our trouble preoccupies our thoughts, monopolizes our energies and robs our happiness.

            Anywhere along the way we could have turned to real help by reading and following God's instructions for life. If we do not know how God has designed life to be and how He expects us to live it, we will run into trouble. When we violate His principles and precepts, we will face the results. Although we may have problems because of someone else's sin, our most serious troubles are self-induced, the result of our own disobedience to God. God forgives our sin, but the earthly results of our sin have to be dealt with to solve our problems.

            Unlike refrigerators, we cannot fix our problems by simply installing new parts. However, changing our behavior and attitude makes for a great start of the repair job. We may have to make apologies, face those we have hurt or who have hurt us, break habits, and search our heart until we are ashamed before God. We may have to admit we have wronged someone, have spoken unkind words, have been selfish and self-seeking. We may need to seek someone's forgiveness. It is not easy to make the repairs God's way, but when we do it is correct. We will have a real sense of spiritual victory when we follow His instructions for life.