The Boy's Handy Ability and Inability

Lens for one. Light bulb for another. Batteries for yet another. Springs from another. NOT ONE WORKING FLASHLIGHT IN MY HOUSE. Do you know why? Because little boys like to take things apart to see how they work. The problem is they rarely know how to put them back together and don’t tell you when they have disassembled something of yours. So, when the lights go out in Shreveport, we are scrambling to find a light source. It has come to the point that I hide a flashlight in the dash of my truck that requires a tool to disassemble and doesn’t require batteries. Fix his little red wagon! And just for the record, it’s not just flashlights…any toy or tool that is left within his sight is fair game.


I asked Pearce one time if he takes them apart, why doesn’t he put them back together. His response, “I don’t know how.”

How often do we take apart or tear down what God has given us? Have you ever destroyed something or someone? And then when we get done tearing them done or tearing it apart, we look at God and say, “I don’t know how.”

I’d like to tell you that we are able to put all of our flashlights back together. I’m estimating Pearce has gotten his abled-hands on at least five flashlights over the years. By the time we realize he has had it, we only find parts, and we can’t put it back together again. There are consequences for our actions, but thankfully, we serve a God who is in the restoration business. He is in the redeeming business. He can restore relationships. He can redeem a life that has been torn down by his or her own hands. I was reminded of this truth today as I sat in class listening to a missionary tell a remarkable story of God’s ability to restore. Then she read Psalm 103. He can redeem our lives out of a pit and restore us with love and compassion and meet the desires of our hearts with good things. As far as the east is from the west is how far he removes our sin from us.

We serve an awesome God. When we think a situation or a person is hopeless, He is the hope. When we think a person is too far gone, God goes farther. His love is never-ending, and his love never changes no matter what I may or may not do. I am so thankful for the work of restoration he has done in my life. So for this reason and so many more, I will praise the Lord with all my soul.