broken prayer

We bought an older home last year.  There are lots of projects that need attention.  So many, in fact, that we mostly ignore them until something actually breaks.


Unbroken things don’t require fixing.  They just get used again, and again, and again, and no one thinks twice about them.  The refrigerator that keeps the food cold is completely taken for granted.  The garage door that the children haven’t broken by repeatedly throwing a ball at it barely registers in my mind.  The door that opens and closes easily without incident never draws me away from important matters like updating my status on facebook.


But right now, there are a lot of broken things in this house.  The ice maker leaks, the front door handle gets stuck, the garage door has panels missing, and the people around here lack patience, argue sometimes, and can be awfully stubborn.


Broken things get all the attention, all the prayer, all the time and money and focus.

Sometimes, when I stare down the brokenness inside us all, I wonder why God doesn’t just fix us.  Couldn’t He just snap his fingers and make everything wrong miraculously right?


I guess He could.  But since He doesn’t, He must want something from us and for us other than instant perfection.  I am beginning to think He likes us with our flaws, temper tantrums, vanities, and lack of wisdom.  Maybe, just maybe, perfection isn’t His goal this side of heaven.


The truth is, I don’t pray for my children when they are content and easy to understand.  I don’t pray for God’s presence in our home very much when life sparkles with joy and we’re all happy.  I take my marriage for granted when there is no conflict or selfishness threatening to splinter our hearts.


I am ashamed to admit it, but if God snapped His fingers and fixed us all, He might never hear from me again.


So today, instead of begging for deliverance, I am going to praise Him when my son looks me in the eye and refuses to share.  I will gratefully take the hand of the tired and fussy little girl who is so mad she has fire shooting out of her ears.  I will look in the mirror and smile at the selfish woman looking back at me, and tell her to set her heart once more on obeying God.  


I will face all of our brokenness and my heart will sing an old song.  This is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.


As for the house, I think I need to find a good handy man….