Thursday, 4PM — We pulled into the driveway. The van door opened. Before I had left the driver’s seat my 8 yr old daughter, Rebekah, was slow motion tumbling out of the van – her feet in the air. Her initial scream quickly turned to wailing as I ran around to her. Through the tears I saw a bloody lip and badly broken front tooth.I scooped her up off the pavement and into the house for calming and first aid. By God’s grace, we reached a dentist who was open until 6PM and would see her. Just 25 minutes later. Rebekah was in his chair saying, “Can you fix this?”

Broken lives, while not always so obvious, are often just as painful as that tooth. Poor choices, bad habits and outright mistakes tear apart our relationships. Cruel words wound us and others deeply. Shattered relationships and dreams rend our hearts. Yet like the jagged tooth, these are just symptoms of a balance problem; the true cause of a crumbling life is an off-kilter relationship with God. (He is to be first in our lives, with everything else second.)

The good news is God’s office is always open and He can fix anything. Like Rebekah’s tooth, the fixing process isn’t always fun, but the results are wondeful and well worth it! The broken tooth was made hole, even stronger than it was before because of the dentist’s special bonding material. (Just like God’s supernatural power and love heals and strengthens our lives.) The black driveway grime was polished away leaving a sparkling, white tooth. (Just like spending time in God’s Presence and Word slowly polishes away sin and dysfunction, leaving a brighter life that can reflect His love to the world.) The end result for Rebekah was a more beautiful smile than before the tooth was broken. (She had already had one front tooth longer than the other from a previous Leap Frog incident and the dentist fixed that, too!) God can have the same amazing effect on our lives — and offer us the exciting promise of spending forever with Him in the perfection of Heaven, too.

Where are you broken and when will you sit in God’s chair (through prayer) to ask Him to fix it? When will you give Him permission to do whatever it takes to make you whole, strong and more beautiful — and then cooperate in the process?

By faith in the name of Jesus this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. (Acts 3:16)

Dear Friends,

Please understand that, though God is able to to heal every physical ailment, He does not always choose to. He knows what it takes in every life to create a heart totally devoted to Him — which, since He is amazing, Almighty God is what He deserves. God knows and wants what is best for each of us, so He is right in being more concerned with our closeness to Him than our merely having a life of ease and comfort.