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.