In the summer of 2017 I successfully killed my fridge.
I won’t get into the details of it, but a foolish decision on my part led to my fridge no longer working properly. Which was followed up by embarrassment, and shame.
The thing about life is we will all make foolish decisions sometimes (like killing a fridge). But in the moment following our foolish decision, it feels as if we are the only ones who ever make mistakes.
That emotion leads us to isolate ourselves, and hide the problem from everyone else.
And of course that’s the worst possible response.
Shame and embarrassment are powerful emotions so the temptation is to take those feelings away as quickly as possible by covering up the problem. But that mistake often shows that we are try to accomplish too much on our own. It’s the Lord’s way of drawing us back into stronger relationships with others.
Killing my fridge was a big enough mistake that couldn’t be covered up, which in the end was a blessing because I had to ask for help. Initially that led to some laughter from my friends (it was a bit funny) but then they helped me get the problem taken care of.
God takes great joy in bringing us problems we cannot fix. For it is those problems that lead us to our knees in prayer, and seeking out the help of trusted friends.
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