And yet, and yet…

Sometimes you’re just one bulb away from being completely burned out.

The above picture is a series of hanging bulbs that have been in a room for several years. Over time, the bulbs have burned out one-by-one, til now this lone bulb is left.

Why hasn’t the bulb been changed? Ignorance of the issue? Disinterest in fixing it? Lacking the expertise of where to find new material?

Perhaps it’s the inertia of remembering how something used to be, but instead of changing it to fit new life, there is a fearful hanging on. There is a fear (like described in Craig Groeschel’s podcast on generational leaders found here: https://youtu.be/WLgbjT0WpBo) that if we try to fix or change the issue, we’ll mess something up.

Sometimes it’s easier to leave something broken than risk the change.

There are many applications for this in culture and churches, and I’ll let you draw those for yourselves. But what I want to focus in upon is individual inertia.

Recently at my house I had to replace the mechanism in one of our toilets. It had been sticking for a long time (months, if not over a year) and as a result would refuse to flush at different times. But instead of trying to fix it, I observed that most of the time it still flushed and still worked. Add to this my inner fears of messing up stuff when I try to fix it at home, and my family was feeling a lot of consternation over the issue.

I wasn’t OK with the problem, but it wasn’t bad enough for me to address it. I could live with discomfort so long as I didn’t confront my fear.

(And for those curious, a few days ago I finally fixed it. Hasn’t leaked yet, so praising God for that!)

This is how many of us approach the sins and difficulties in our lives. We know there’s an issue and it causes problems, but it doesn’t always cause a problem. However, when it comes to the opportunity that we can bring it to God and grow through the insufficiency we balk. We’ve got it under control. It’s not that big of a problem.

I can live with it.

And in your life, bulb after bulb continues to burn out.

In John 10, Jesus tells us that the thief (Satan) comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but he came to give us life, and beyond that life in abundance. We were made for more than the threatening space between just settling and moving to a fix. Your spirit is more than a sometimes problem, mired in shame. God desires you to live a life of freedom.

If you find yourself in that space between today, I’d encourage you to stop the cycle. Don’t be like me and continue to procrastinate on the fix because “I can live with it.” Open your heart to the Lord to confess your sin and then turn to Christian community to grow together.

Go ahead and change the bulbs and turn the lights back on.

Signs and wonders y’all.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22