Coming to God as a Child (Part 7): Fix It

By David Ryser

It’s every parent’s nightmare.  Your young child has come to you with a broken toy.  As you peer down at the jumbled collection of wires, gears, and other assorted gizmos, your heart sinks.  What a mess!  Then you look at your child.  She’s trying to be brave, but her chin is quivering and her eyes are full of tears.  She looks up at you.  She believes you can do anything.  Then she squeaks out two little words.

“Fix it.”

Just thinking back on that scene, replayed many times, still makes my blood run cold.  And now I have grandchildren.  This means I have fresh opportunities to stare stupidly at the spilled insides of unspeakably complicated contraptions.

And into the eyes of a trusting child who wants me to, “Fix it.”

Jesus taught that those who wished to enter into the Kingdom of God (also called the Kingdom of Heaven) had to do so as little children (Matthew 18:3, among others).  One of the endearing--if somewhat misguided--qualities of small children is that they believe their parents can do anything.  Including fixing anything…especially a favorite toy.  And it doesn’t matter how it got broken or who broke it.

Anytime someone asks, “How did this happen?” that’s code for, “I don’t know how to fix this thing!”

When something is broken--a life, for example--why do we not bring it to God?  Unlike an earthly parent, God is able to fix whatever is broken in our lives.  And He’s good at it.  If not for “repaired” murderers, adulterers, and other assorted weirdoes, our Bible would be a pamphlet instead of a book.

Why do we take our broken lives to our friends instead of to God?

A two-year-old child would not take a broken toy to another two-year-old to fix it.  She takes it to an adult.  Usually to a parent.  To someone who knows more about it than she does.

Why don’t we take our broken lives to God?

From reading the Bible and life experience, I have discovered at least three reasons for why people do not go to God with their brokenness.

First, some people keep their broken lives as a pet.  They rehearse their troubles to anyone who will listen.  They do not do this to find a solution to their problems.  They do it to get attention.

One example of this sort of thing occurred when I was in Graduate School.  A classmate of mine worked as a prayer counselor for a nationally-known ministry.  His job was to answer phone calls and pray with the callers.  A person called one day wanting prayer that the Social Security Administration would approve an application for disability benefit payments.  This person was physically disabled, was unable to work, and needed the money.  The prayer counselor said, “I have good news for you!  You don’t need disability payments!  How about I pray that God would heal you so you could work?”  The caller responded, “No, no, no, no, no!”  Then the caller began speaking slowly as if to a dimwit, “I-want-you-to-pray-for-me-to-receive-my-disability-payments.”

There is no cure for this.  If you come across someone who is keeping their broken life as a pet, run for your life!

The second reason people do not bring their broken lives to God is that they do not believe God can fix them.  They don’t put it that bluntly, of course.  But when presented with the opportunity to dare to hope that their lives will get better, they begin to describe all of the reasons why God can’t fix them.  Why their situation is unique.  Why, in effect, their brokenness is bigger than God.

Jesus ran into this type of problem at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-7).  When He asked a lame man if he wanted to be healed, the man never did answer the question.  Instead, he listed all of the reasons why God couldn’t do it.

Like the man at the pool, people who believe their broken lives are bigger than God need to meet Jesus.  When they discover how big He is, the size of their brokenness is put into perspective.  What happens next is up to them.

The third reason, and related to the second, that people don’t bring their broken lives to God is because they believe God won’t (not can’t, but won’t) fix them.  Something they’ve done--some sin or failure--is beyond God’s ability to forgive and repair.  This mixture of self-centeredness, arrogance, and stupidity can be difficult to overcome.  I know…from personal experience.  Fortunately for people like us, the Bible is full of stories about people whose lives were full of sin and failure.  And God fixed them.  Some of them became heroes of the faith.

I have yet to run across a sin-paralyzed Christian whose misdeeds were worse than David’s.  Or a Christian whose failures were bigger than those of Abraham, Moses, Peter, or any number of people in the Bible who went on to greatness in God’s kingdom.

We need to get over ourselves.  The attention we get from keeping our problems as pets is pathetic.  And it’s temporary.  Questioning God’s ability or willingness to fix our broken lives does nothing to improve our lot.  No one ever received the help they needed from God by doubting Him.

And if we come into God’s kingdom as children, then we must come believing our heavenly Father can fix anything...and that He loves us enough to do it.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com