Can You Really Fix It Yourself?

    When the type on his printer began to grow faint, Bob called a local repair shop where a friendly clerk informed him the printer probably needed only to be cleaned. Because the store charged $50 for such cleanings, he told Bob he might be better off reading the printer's manual and trying the job himself.
    Pleasantly surprised by his candor, Bob asked, "Does your boss know that you discourage business?"
    "Actually, it's my boss' idea," the employee replied sheepishly. "We usually make more money on repairs if we let people try to fix things themselves first."
    I can sure relate! I can’t tell you the number of home repair projects and attempts at automobile repairs, when trying to save a few bucks, that have resulted in disaster. (You’ll have to ask Junior about his recent bathroom renovation project.)
    I learned a long time ago that I’m better off leaving the “fix-it” projects to those who know what they are doing. In some cases, I can eventually figure things out. But by the time I get it finished, I almost always wished I would have payed the professional.
    Then there are those things we try to fix where we are just plain incapable of doing it ourselves. Like the time a thought I would change engines out in a car that I got a great deal on. Hahaha! After enlisting the help of more mechanically minded friends, and putting it all back together, I realized I had put the fly-wheel in backwards and we had to start over. So...I found a mechanic who then did it right. I am a bit embarrassed at some of those failed attempts to “fix” things.
    Some of you are trying to do the same thing right now. You’re trying to change yourself...shake an addiction, break a habit, turn negative thinking into positive thinking, become a better husband, wife, parent, or employee. But you’ve failed miserably and are ready to give up.
    That’s not a bad place to be. Maybe then you’ll do what I did––look to an expert.
    I’m not talking about any old expert. The truth is, the experts have little more handle on life than the rest of us. The only real tool that people have to help us solve our problems and fix the stuff broken in our lives is the instruction book from our designer/maker. And he’s willing to make things right with what’s wrong with you, if you’ll stop messing it up by trying to fix it yourself!
    God knows best. His answers work. His Word gives the real solutions. Anything else is just a shortcut that you’ll eventually pay for. And I don’t want you to get it all done and realize the flywheel is in backwards.
    Go to God and let him fix things before you mess them up irreparably. His repairs are sometimes costly, but always worthwhile!