Not Broken

Sometime back, our coffee maker quit working. This was not a good thing. My wife and I are coffee drinkers. We start our mornings with coffee. We sometimes end our days with coffee, and on occasion, it is how we make it through the day. When the piece of equipment that gives us our coffee goes down, we go into emergency mode.

I am thankful for the internet and YouTube. You can find out how to fix almost anything on here. That information was a lot harder to find when I was growing up in the '70s and '80s. We followed the steps the video demonstrated, and we were able to get the morning coffee. The repair did not last, and we bought an entirely different coffee maker.

People say things are not made the way they used to be. That is mostly true. Things seem to be made cheaper to replace but cost more to repair. It seemed to be that things were built to last back in the day, but when they broke, they could be fixed more efficiently and cost-effectively.

There is one thing that has never changed. You cannot fix what is not broken. We can destroy it. We can try to improve it. However, if it is not broken, you cannot repair it.

I have seen companies pay big money for computer programs and then try to change it to do something else. This often causes the program to go down costing many man-hours to repair it. It seems to me that you would buy customized software to do what you want. Trying to fix what is not broken is costly.

People are the same way. We see people that are different than us. They may be in better shape, have a better sense of humor, and be more financially sound. The possibilities are endless of what others are that we may want to replicate. We have seen people try to change who they are. They think there is something wrong with them. Trying to transform into something they are not can lead to many other problems including depression or self-loathing.

Quit trying to fix what is not broken. You are not defective. You are you. You were not created to be anyone else but you. That does not mean that you cannot be the best you that you can be, but don’t try to be an imitation of someone else.

You need to love yourself. You are worth loving. There are enough people in this world who won’t love you for you, but their opinion of you does not matter. What matters is God loves you, and if you are good enough for Him to love, then that should settle it. You are loveable.

God does not just love you, but he likes you. He was willing to lose his only son because of his love for you. God wants to spend time with you because He likes you. He likes when we talk to Him telling him how we feel and how our day is going. He wants to go with us to help us through the fires of life.

You are not broken. You just need to do you. God created you how He wanted you. If things that work for everyone else doesn’t seem to work for you, try it a different way that works only for you.

People can only be fixed if they are broken. You are not broken.

Blinded

I can’t imagine being born blind. I can barely get around my house without tripping on something that is always there now. When driving through Ruston, Louisiana, I noticed people with their eyes covered walking around with sight sticks. I later found out that Ruston was the home of the Louisiana Center for the Blind. The center teaches students the tools necessary to live life independently.  Finishing the program requires students to dropped off at a random location where they must find their way back.

My trip to Ruston was years ago, but I recalled this while reading a novel whose main character was born blind. She used echolocation to get around. Echolocation is the “ability of humans to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects, by actively creating sounds.” The protagonist in the novel I am reading used clicking sounds from her mouth to “see.”

Throughout our lives, we will encounter many who are blind, though most of them can see. Their eyes may physically work, but they are blind in other areas. Jeremiah 5:21 says, “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.” This verse tells me that God wanted them to know something, but they chose not to hear it for some reason.

There are a variety of reasons that people do not see. Ignorance is one of those reasons. Ignorance is not stupidity. It is merely a lack of knowledge. If you saw a cow for the first time, you would not know what it is unless someone tells you it is a cow. The same is true of other things. If you have never been taught a truth, how can you know it? I have experienced people training me on the job that did not want to explain something because they preferred to be the only one with that knowledge. They thought it made them more valuable to the company. When the time came for me to use that knowledge, I could not. I was blind to that truth.

One truth that I learned over the years is God loves us all. Sometimes, we are

ignorant of that truth. If we do not demonstrate God’s love to others, then how can they know. Treat people the way God loves and tell them about the God of love. Knowing the truth can change their lives. John 8:31-32 states, “So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” You cannot be set free if you do not know the truth.

Image source: Seasons of Life Ministries.

Sometimes we do not see the truth in our lives because we are too busy looking at the problem in everyone else’s lives. We choose to look at the negative in people without understanding what we need to correct ourselves. Often the thing that aggravates us about someone is the same trait that we have. We just don’t see it. We complain about others being close-minded, but we don’t listen to their point of view. Matthew 7:3 says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Some people can become blind after being able to see at first. Something changed to make them blind. Often, we do not know the truth because we have experienced something that distracts us from that truth. It is hard to believe that the Father loves you if you were abused by your parents. The abuse does not change the fact that he loves you. The experience blinds us to it. God did not want you to suffer. Sin brought into this world brought the suffering. We want free will but blame God when someone uses the free will to hurt us. Often these experiences lead us to blindness caused by resentment. Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” If we seek the Lord Jesus, he will reveal the truth and open your eyes to the reality that will bring you peace.

While many have learned to live with blindness, there is a better way. Quit holding on to things that hide the truth. See the truth. Do not choose to remain blind.

       

Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. (Matthew 13:16)