Last October I attempted to repair our dishwasher's automatic soap dispenser. I really thought I could do it. About 6 weeks earlier I had watch Kenny, the repair guy, fix something else on it. So I set to work and in about 15 minutes, I was surrounded on the kitchen floor with screws, springs, pieces of plastics, and the door that had fallen apart in four pieces.
I immediately looked for someone to pin this on. The cats had made themselves scarce. Katherine came to mind, but no, better n of g o t here. Nothing left to do but t o call Kenny. With sheepishness, embarrassment, humiliation, etc., I told him what had happened as the result of my misplaced confidence. He made appropriate sympathetic noises, but said he couldn't get to me for two days. When he finally did come, he fixed everything in about five minutes. And get this, he didn't even charge me.
What a true to life illustration of how we attempt to manage and fix our lives from the vantage point of sinful ignorance. We are SO SURE we know everything. We wind up making the mess worse. We look around for someone to blame, but deep down know the chaos is our own baby. We CRY TO GOD for help, but that's uncomfortable because we have to confess the mess we've made. Then, sometimes, God doesn't come right away. He lets us wait on His schedule… BUT WHEN HE COMES IN THE PERSON OF JESUS, IT'S NOT TO CONDEMN, BUT TO HELP, FORGIVE, SAVE, SET US ON OUR FEET AGAIN… AND IT'S FREE!!!