Wrecked

I have a wrecked Jeep Liberty in my garage. It had an encounter with a concrete barrier and now it no longer runs. In fact, it could not make it to my house except on a trailer. It does not run! Everytime I open my garage door, I see this mangled clump of metal and steel, with plastic and engine parts hanging off. It makes me sad. I wanted to total the car, write it off but my husband is a man of optimism --it excites him that the radio still works and the upholstery is still in good condition and a couple of the windows are not broken. He believes he can fix this car, he believes he can replace the broken parts, hammer out some dents, repaint and make this car function again. He knows it will be costly and time consuming, and that it will take much effort and patience, but he has hope.
I have been thinking about how many of us have been spiritually wrecked? How many of us have just been going on about our daily lives, living carefree and a bit careless, only to come to an abrupt stop, up against a concrete barrier? I know I have been there and I know others who have also shared this experience. When we hit that wall, the damage caused by our haphazard living is often extensive and for some time we find ourselves unable to function. We are no longer pretty and shiny, but rather spiritually and emotionally mangled and dented, torn apart and wrecked! We feel sad, ashamed and hopeless. There are some who look at the "wrecked" christian and although saddened, are ready to total them out---write the brother or sister off as unsalvageable. There are some who shake their heads and walk away, uncomfortable around the wreckage of a soul. But praise God there are others, hope-filled people of faith, christians who look at the soul, all battered and scarred, and begin praying. They look for the positives, the good things in these wrecked souls because these christians know that our Father can fix anything. He can cast out demons, He can restore sight, He can bring forth a child from the aged, He can save a nation and He can give life! He can redeem this soul, salvage the good, remove the nonworking parts, hammer out the dents and make a new creation. These christians know it will be costly---in fact the already paid lifeblood of the Savior. And they know it will take much time and much effort, much patience and TLC. But, they look at the sad, tattered soul and they have hope. The christian of faith is willing to fight and work to salvage the soul no matter how "totaled" he or she appears.
As Ned begins working on the Jeep, he will call on his friends to help him. The Jeep will be the focus of his attention for some time to come. He will get dirty and he will become tired. He will most likely be frustrated at times, but he will not give up! He needs this Jeep to function. He needs this vehicle to run, to do what it was created to do. It is important to Ned and he will not consider other options. There are some who will tell him to give up, who will tell him that the car is not worth all the time and work he will put into it. There will be times when he will feel discouraged that repairs are not progressing as quickly as he'd like. And there will be times when he is tired and feels like calling the junkyard. But, he will not do that, he will continue to work, continue to hope. And with every little piece that is fixed, every little dent that is smoothed out and every little gadget or big part that begins to work again, he will rejoice.
Likewise when we are working with wrecked souls, there will be times when we are discouraged, tired, frustrated and almost ready to give up. During those times, we will need to remember that God did not and does not give up on us and that He can and does accomplish amazing things in our lives. He can repair a soul, He can restore functioning, He can recreate. After all, He did it for us, didn't He?


Peace
Neva