Joyful Ruins

Written 4/19/2018, updated 5/15/2021

Car repairs are not fun. They’re always a hassle and nearly ALWAYS expensive. Within the past two years, I have had some bad luck with my car. I have had to have expensive repairs along with that bad luck.

Last year, after I had damaged my car, I started to notice all the other cars around me that were broken, dented, “blemished”.

This got me thinking about mistakes, and the universal truth that everybody makes them. None of us are left without dents and scrapes in this life. If we look around or even just listen we will see and hear that everyone has failed in some way and has been hurt by it, “damaged”.

So, if you are a car, then you have to get repaired, right? This requires high costs and does not usually guarantee no further damage. It usually costs you money, time, mental well being, and sometimes pride. It is typically your responsibility, unless insurance covers some of the cost, but you still have to pay something to fix the problem.

However, it is not the same for us. Believe it or not, someone does bail us out, pays the cost of repairs: Jesus.

We all walk around with hurt. We all mess up, but God pays for those “repairs” and heals us. We should face the consequences, pay up, we should die and be forever separated from God, but instead, He chose to step in with His son and pay the price.

We all walk around with dents and scrapes, just like our cars might, but we don’t have to pay for our mistakes. We get to walk into the repair shop and receive our fixed car, everything paid for! (This actually happened to me a couple of weeks ago and yes, it reminded me that Jesus paid for far more, gave us a far more extravagant gift).