As a young boy growing up, one of my favorite television shows was the Andy Griffith show. Living and growing up in a small town, I saw many parallels in my life and community. One of the characters in the show was Emmet Clark. He had a “fix-it” shop that moved into Floyd’s Barbershop after Floyd retired. Emmet represented a time in our past where things were saved and repaired. Shops like Emmet’s had manufacturer’s schematics and manuals where you could order a part, have your appliance cleaned, repaired, and brought back to a renewed condition.
Today, thanks to the internet, we can easily order parts that can be delivered in a few days, watch a You-Tube video, and have what was broken up and running in no time. Sometimes, however, it does not work as well as seen on the internet and we end up throwing what we worked on away. The repairman also seems to be a thing of the past. We used to call the manufacturer because it was still under warranty and have the repairman put in a new module. Now, we just buy the newest and latest. Today’s culture has a “throw away” mentality. Rather than trying to fix things, we just discard them. When we returned to the states, after serving as missionaries overseas, we were shocked to see what we throw away as a society. This mentality shows up in many areas of our lives! If our marriage is broken, we seek out a new relationship. If we have relational conflicts at work, we hunt for a new job. If a friend lets us down, we move on and look for a new friend.
As I look at my own life, I am so glad that I serve a God who fixes the broken instead of throwing us away. One of the verses that means so much to me is Isaiah 41:9-10, “I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Psalm 147:3 tells us that God is in the “fix-it” business, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” When we feel broken, we must plead to God as David did in Psalm 51:10-12, ”Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” This is what our God does; He renews us and restores us to walk with a willing and obedient heart the way we were designed to. I thank my God daily that He did not throw me away when I was broken.
