"Fix it Daddy, it's Broken"

Yesturday Lincoln, my 3 year old son, came to me w/ a toy. It was a motorcycle that he has had for....I don't know......about a year? It was one of those little "Hot Wheel" type motorcycles that was small and easy to lose. In fact, when he brought it to me its the first time I had seen it in a while. Lincoln is your typical boy who will play w/ a toy for a few days, lose it, then find it and play w/ it like its the greatest thing ever.
Something else Lincoln does is play rough w/ his toys, which is what he been doing w/ his motorcycle. So when he brings the toy to me, its not completely together or even remotely close. Its just the handle bars and the front wheel. I have no idea how he broke it or where all of the pieces were. All I knew is that Lincoln wanted it put back together. And he insisted over and over that I could do it.
There is something that I love about my kids that causes them to think that I can do anything, fix anything, take care of anything. Little do they know most of the time I have no clue what I am doing. But here, Lincoln just had his mind made up that I could fix his motorcycle and kept saying over and over again, "Fix it daddy, its broken!"
And as much I as I tried to reason w/ him he couldn't rap his mind around that it just couldn't be fixed. So finally, I told him sternly, "Lincoln, it is impossible to fix something that is broken into a million pieces." And as those words came out of my mouth, he put his pouting face on.
Every kid has one. Its the face that they make where there eyes go to the floor and begin to tear up and the lower lip pops out. Lincoln has always had the cutest pouty face, which makes it hard to enforce any sort of discipline. But here, he wasn't making it b/c he was being disciplined. He was making it b/c he was hopeless. He finally understood that the his motorcycle just couldn't be fixed; it was too broken, too shattered for repair and really, just needed to be thrown away.
How sad it was for my little man to realize that his favorite toy (at the moment) couldn't be fixed.

And so my thoughts go to this world. As I told Lincoln, "It is impossible to fix something that is broken into a million pieces", I wanted to grab those words and take them back like I never said them. And the reason is b/c God, who nothing is impossible for, has been trying to fix this broken and shattered world ever since sin entered it. And I know as impossible as that seems, one day it is going to happen.

In Revelation 21: 1-7 John saw this happen. He says, he saw "a new heaven", "a new earth", and "the Holy City, a new Jerusalem." John heard a voice saying, "God is going to dwell and live w/ men, he will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain." The voice continued w/, "I am making everything new!"

This is the perfect picture of our Father fixing a world that has been broken into a million pieces. He is going to put it all back together. He is going to fix it......he is going to make "everything new."

In verse 7, the God promises, "He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will by my son." God is saying that he promises a time where there will be no death, tears, mouring, pain, brokeness, for those who "overcome."
This is comforting and this gives us hope. And not just hope, but the assurance that God will do the impossible, and fix this broken world.

Ok, so you might be reading this and saying, "But, this is for future events. And I understand that I need to endure, persevere, and overcome so that I can have this inheritance. But how does that help the world today? What do I do w/ the brokeness of today?"
And I would say that these are good questions. There is no doubt a lot of pain and suffering in the world. There are millions of starving, orphaned children dying everyday. There is war that we are in, internationally and wars going on in homes across the country. People are dying of AIDS and Cancer everyday. There are people living in fear and living w/out hope.
And its easy for us to shake our fists w/ anger and question God, saying, "Where are you?", "When are you gonna fix this?", or "What are you going to do about this?"

But perhaps God, who time and time again blesses us, restores us, forgives us, fixes us, sent his only Son to die for us, is asking us, "What are going to do about this?"
Its not like God is on vacation or taking some time off and expects us to fix this world ourselves. But he does expect us..... he does call us, to try.

In Matthew 6:10, Jesus prayed, "Your kingdom come, your will be done ON EARTH as it is IN HEAVEN." Jesus is praying that the very promise of no tears, pain, suffering, mourning, death, etc, "as it is in heaven" be lived out "on earth."

Do you believe you are part of a bigger picture, a bigger plan? Do you believe you are part of God's plan to fix the world and make all "everything new?"

While I believe that God has already started and is going to ultimately fix this world, and that our best efforts to do it will pale in comparision. It is still our responsibility to bring heaven to this earth. Meaning, it is still our responsibility to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to those who thirst, love our neighbors that live across the street or on foreign soil, and ultimately, give hope to the hopeless. Jesus showed us how. Its now up to us to do it.

I tried to fix Lincoln's motorcycle, but there wasn't enough glue or duct tape.....just kidding. There was just no way to fix it. It was too broken and too shattered. But one day, God is going to take all of the shattered pieces and put them back together making "everything new."
And God has a way to fix it; you and me. Its through us he is going to fix the world. Its through us he will spread his "good news." Its through us that His light and love will shine. Its through us that he will give hope. Its through us that he will bring heaven to this earth.

So He invites us to help him. We may not get it right or do it just how he would. But, instead of shaking our fists at God in anger, let's join God in his plan to bring heaven to this earth and do our best, for Him and/ Him, to make "everything new."

So as we cry out to God saying, "Fix it Daddy, it's broken". Let it also be our prayer, "God, use us to do whatever needs to be done to fix it."

BW