Month: May 2014

In an episode of the old television show ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ Beaver gets into trouble for spilling ink onto some important papers after he’s repeatedly been told to stay away from his fathers desk.  The punishment he receives is to stay home all day Saturday while his parents are away visiting friends.  Of course Beavers best buddy Larry comes over and convinces him to go to the movies, so in direct disobedience to his fathers commands, Beaver goes.  When the movie ends, a raffle is held at the theater and as luck would have it, Beaver wins a brand new bicycle.  Unable to bring the bike back to his own house without his parents finding out that he has disobeyed them, he allows Larry to take the bike home with him.  Of course when Larry’s mother asks where the bike came from, he immediately lies to her about it, saying that a rich man in a long limousine gave it to him.  Eventually he comes clean and tells her the truth, causing her to call Beaver’s father with the whole story, creating even more trouble for both boys.

At the end of the show Beaver and Larry are talking;  Larry says, “Boy Beaver, if you hadn’t won that bike, no one would have ever found out  we went to the movies and we wouldn’t have gotten into all of this trouble.”  Beaver replies, “Yeah, out of all those kids at the movie, I wonder why I ended up winning it?”  Larry answers, “Maybe God was trying to fix you.”

What an interesting choice of words for the writers of the show to use.  I don’t know if kids still use this expression today, but back in the 1960’s when ‘Leave it to Beaver’ was made, it was not uncommon for kids to get angry and say, “I’ll fix you!”  It was a way of letting someone know, “You did something bad to me, and I promise, I’ll find a way to get back at you for it.  I’ll get even with you!”   That sounds like the way Larry is using the phrase when he says, “Maybe God was trying to fix you.”   Beaver did something bad by disobeying his father and Larry thinks that maybe God was getting back at him for it.  He was being punished for his transgression.  However, the word fix is more commonly used as a way of saying that something has been mended.  Websters dictionary says;  to make (something) whole or able to work properly again : to repair (something)

What the writers of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ had in mind when they wrote those seven words, we’ll never know.  But what Larry and Beaver ended up doing with the bike might hold the clue.  They dropped the bike off on the doorstep of a church with an attached note asking that it be given a good home.  Larry had once seen a movie where a woman did that with a baby.

If you’ve ever seen ‘Leave it to Beaver’ you know that Beaver and Larry are generally pretty good and obedient little kids.  So why do bad things sometimes happen to them?  Why do bad things occasionally happen to all good people?  Maybe it’s because regardless of how good we are, when like Beaver we disobey our father, there are consequences to be paid.

And I guess how you interpret the line “Maybe God was trying to fix you.” depends on which side of the cross you  choose to stand on.  I choose to stand on the side that believes God is not angry with me.  He’s not trying to punish me.  He’s not trying to fix me.  He loves me, He’s trying to repair me.  He’s trying to fix me.

1 Peter 5:10

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

January 4th 2012, as I was ready to enter my office and begin work, I got a nose bleed.   There’s no need to go into all of the details, let’s just say it was severe enough that emergency medical was called.  As I lay in the ambulance waiting to be taken to the hospital, one of the EMT’s announced my blood pressure reading to the other, “280 over 160, transport immediately.”   Needless to say, at that moment I didn’t feel blessed.  Laying in the emergency room with doctors trying to get my B/P down and control the bleeding, I didn’t feel blessed.  During the weekly doctor visits that followed, I didn’t feel blessed.  Then one day my doctor said, “You’re doing much better.  Do you have any idea how lucky you were?  How easily you could have died?”  Only then, when I could see things more clearly, did I recognize my blessing.

One night a few months later, as my family was finishing dinner, my then 19 year old unmarried daughter, summoned all of the courage she could, and announced to us that she was pregnant.  Needless to say, at that moment I didn’t feel blessed.  However, my daughter, as frightened as she was to give us the news, still came to us.  She didn’t run away, she trusted her families love.  My son, already grasping his role as uncle and eventual godfather, stepped forward, as a man, and helped to calm a situation that could have easily gotten out of control. Now, along with two great children, I have a beautiful 19 month old grandson who has become the light of our world.  Can God take sin and change it to perfection?  It appears that He can.  Only now, when I can see things more clearly, do I recognize my blessing.

Just weeks later, about a month before my 33rd work anniversary, I was informed by my company that my services would no longer be needed.  I was being let go.  Needless to say, at that moment I didn’t feel blessed.  It’s been almost two years, I’ve lost touch with people whom I once considered friends, that does not make me feel blessed.  I’ve been told by many not to worry, that God has a plan for me, and although past experience tells me that He most assuredly does, I still don’t feel blessed.  Time and again God has proven His faithfulness to me, yet far too often, until He makes the results of His blessings clear, I am unable to believe.  Once again I hear myself saying, “Show me God.  Prove yourself.”

John 20: 24-29

Now Thomas (called Didymus) one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, ” Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

If you take my story and change the details, it becomes your story; maybe instead of the loss of a job, it’s the loss of a loved one.  Instead of an unplanned pregnancy, it’s a broken relationship.  And maybe, just like Thomas and me, you cannot yet see the blessings that God has planned from these “tragedies.”  Remain faithful to Him, you will.