Hanging

It was an extra early morning.

As my husband walked out the door, he cautioned, "Don't let the closet scare you. Your clothes rack fell."

Oh, great, I think to myself. Really? What else can go wrong?

"Thanks for letting me know." I closed the garage door behind him.

As I walked into the closet, it boasted disaster. And four days later, my clothes still remained sprawled out on the floor. Still attached to hangers.

On his way home, my husband called to say that he had stopped at Lowe's to purchase items to repair the closet rack.

The evening went as usual. Dinner. Walks. Property Brothers. Good movie.

Near bedtime, I said, "We aren't going to fix the closet tonight, are we? I'm so tired." Please say no.

"Yes! It won't take long."

Trudging back to the bedroom closet, I noticed he was raring to go. Drill. Screws. He said, "This rack was held up by mere plastic and one screw. We'll go through and replace them all." You sure are enthusiastic. I'm not.

But upon investigation, I noticed that one shelf was the only one with plastic ... the rest were strong and stable, metal holders. I showed my husband. "How odd," I said.

The shelf was fixed. Metal holders. Three screws. My clothes won't fall now.

The clothes that I choose to return.

"I'm not putting these clothes on the rack just yet. By the looks of it, I've got some weeding out to do." I scolded myself.

Sometimes areas in our lives need weeding out. There are areas that need hanging up.

My grandmother hanging clothes on the line to dry reeled through my mind. If the weight was too heavy for the clothespin, the fabric would fall. She'd have to brush off the debris. Oh, how I wish I had a picture of her hanging out clothes. Priceless.

The breakdown in our lives often reveals that some area needs to be turned over to God for security and strength. Entirely.

We place too much weight on ourselves to find that we can't maintain enduring strength alone. We need help.

Sometimes we have to change the angle of our lens to realize that something is wrong. To see the truth. The color is different. This is too much.

When everything seems to fall apart and it seems we are continually brushing off our knees, the hope remains that we are still attached to the One.

It's really a quick fix. We don't even need an early start. And God already paid the price.

Oh yes, Jesus came down to offer repair.

When the fabric of our lives seems to fall apart, there is One who enables us to hang in there.

The One found hanging on a cross.