Please…Can You Fix it?

by Nancie Carmichael, Publisher at Deep River Books

This past week I had major issues with my computer and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fix it. Maybe you can relate. As I’m in the final editing stage for my new book, I really needed my computer. It was most frustrating not being able to make it work, despite attempts of help from my son, my husband, and a person named Juan online who was very patient, but still couldn’t solve the problem.

Thank God for the experts, though. My husband Bill and I took my trusty computer in to the Geek Squad a few days ago, and today I picked it up and discovered it’s as good as new. Miraculous! The experts identified the problem and knew how to fix it. What a relief!

It’s hard to have a problem that you can’t solve. It’s frustrating to live with something broken and not be able to fix it. Maybe that’s why a lot of us write and speak—to help fix people or solve problems. We want to share what we have learned in our brokenness so that we can bring hope to people who are stuck or broken. We want to fix them, and we try valiantly.

As a lay counselor in my church, I often hear someone ask through tears, “What can I do to fix it? What will make my life work again? What will bring love to my marriage…my family?” And on and on we trudge through life, trying to fix things relational, things spiritual, things material. And yes, things technical.

We writers are tempted to write something that ties truth all together with a formula: How to have a happy marriage; or How to find your purpose; or How to raise godly children. But some things defy easy fixes. We live in a broken world. Some things go haywire, for no good reason. We wear out as we get older, and we get sick, or we may be in pain.

In quiet moments when I am utterly truthful, I realize I can’t fix anything. For sure, I can’t fix my computer.

I can’t fix people, either. But I can point them to the One who can. I look for a few words from the sages of old, something to hold onto. And here it is: Jesus saves. He saves to the uttermost. He is an expert on the human condition and can bring transformation and redemption. The main thing that needs fixing is the relationship between us and God.

Ah, glorious Easter. Soon we will celebrate with family and friends the triumphant message of the cross. Billy Graham, America’s pastor, somehow managed to consistently preach the simple yet powerful message of the cross—that we have all sinned; we all need a Savior, and Jesus longs for us to come to him. Paul the apostle asked, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”[1]

There is a helplessness to the human condition and we are lost without him. Jesus’ death on the cross boldly proclaims the solution for our broken selves: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities…by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”[2]

We respond, “Thank You, Jesus, for bearing our sins, for redeeming us.”

May the message of the cross become embedded in your life; in my life. May your writing and your speaking boldly reflect the powerful simplicity of the gospel to change lives. May we humble ourselves and depend completely on the one true Professional who can fix us: our risen Savior, Jesus.

Just as I am, and, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou biddest me come to Thee—O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

—Charlotte Elliott

[1] Romans 7:24, 25 NKJV

[2] Isaiah 53:4–6, NKJV