We had an inconvenience today…one that required my husband to serve as the family chauffeur.
A few weeks ago, while reversing my car into the garage, it scraped against an old bicycle we had laying against the wall. Unbeknownst to me, a part of the car paneling was being pulled apart as I scraped against it.
I’m sure there is a technical word for paneling, but needless to say, we needed to get body work done on the car…all due to my mistake.
My husband’s reliable friend was able to take the car into his shop to repair it, but this meant keeping the car for 2 days during a busy week.
You never know the luxuries of life until it’s taken away from you…even temporarily.
So, since we were down one vehicle today, my husband had to drive us all around town…to school, work, dinner, and after-school activities, all while trying to get his own work done out of his usual office.
It was a huge inconvenience, but what made it all worth it was when we got the car back tonight from his friend.
Alright, so I’m married to a car guy, but I never truly understood what auto detail meant until today. Not only was the panel back in its rightful place, but the car was returned to us in showcase condition.
The new car smell permeated the air…the mats had no crumb visible…the leather glistened….the paint seemed to glow.
He repaired it, but he also RESTORED it to its original condition. I couldn’t believe my eyes…due to his genius work, it truly was like a brand new car.
Doesn’t Jesus do the same for us?
We were broken…things were out of place, we started to stink up our lives with poor decisions, had scratches and dents from mistakes we made. But, then, the Holy Spirit started to slowly permeate into those cracks and crevices that were hiding all the dirt, and our eyes were opened.
We realized we needed Jesus to come make us clean and wipe away all the anxiety, self-deprecating thoughts, anger, bitterness, and when we accepted Him as the ruler and leader of hour hearts, he RESTORED us back to new.
I love that about Jesus. Sometimes, I can’t believe my eyes when I see a person’s life changed because of Him. They look so…new.
Tomorrow, I’ll drive this “new” car and will be ever so careful when I reverse it, and I will be humbly reminded of how our friend’s genius ability made things better than it ever was….just like my Savior who loves me and retouches my flawed interior and makes me better than I ever was.
~Betsy
*photo: Colton Kresser on unsplash.com
