A Quick-Fix Rarely Fixes The Problem! …Hello Hump Day readers. I hope your springtime May is going well. Here at the campground, we have a lot of sunshine but also a LOT of wind! That’s common in May in the Southwest but when it rocks your 20,000lb RV, you know Mother Nature is on a rumble! Suffice it to say, those who are tent-camping often wind up in their vehicles. One camper asked me what ‘quick-fix’ would mend his warped tent. My answer, ‘not gonna happen’. So, off he went to Walmart to get another one!

Let’s face it, haven’t we often looked for a quick-fix but usually it doesn’t last long and we need someone to come to our rescue? This reminded me of a time when I was leading a worship conference in St. Louis, Missouri. On a break, I headed to the ladies’ room and somehow the lock on the stall decided to stay locked! These stalls had doors that were about 12 inches above the floor. Great for privacy, but when you are stuck in there, unless you’re a toddler, you won’t be getting out. So, I was truly stuck with no quick-fix in site, until…

I didn’t want to panic, but I knew that I was scheduled for the next session! Thankfully someone else came in and I told them about the broken lock and they immediately went to get me some help. To my surprise, a janitor quickly showed up with his ladder and tools. He set up in the stall next to me, working almost upside down! He wound up having to take the whole lock mechanism off of the door! I sat on the toilet so I was out of his way. It was hilarious; I told him he was my ‘knight in shining armor’ and he laughed out loud along with me and several other ladies who had come in!

That episode always reminds me of a quick-fix, and how God is often the one who is right there to get us out of where we are stuck. God comes in, bails us out, and sends us on our way. But here is where the quick-fix is not so quick. What happens when God doesn’t unlock the door? Or when friends betray us, our health worsens, our families are squabbling, our check-book is taking a nose-dive—there are so many scenarios, right?

Psalm 23 is probably one of the most beloved scriptures in the Bible. For me, it is a go-to in many troubling situations and verse 5 reminds us that no matter what we are stuck in, God is there. Here is the verse from The Voice translation:

“You spread out a table before me, provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies; You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil, filling my cup again and again with Your grace.”

This verse is telling us that God provides even in the midst of trouble; that God climbs right in with us in the dark room—even in a bathroom stall! But God…instead of quickly unlocking the door for us, God, instead, wants to sit with us!  Why? Because spending time with God is more important than quickly getting a quick-fix and sending us on our merry way.

My bathroom-stall episode reminded me that God already knew my schedule, that what I was doing was needed, and I truly believe that the quick-fix I needed came quickly just because of God! Think about it, how often are you in a jam and you need something ‘now’ and you don’t want to wait but you don’t have a choice? That janitor was in there so fast, but me—I didn’t expect that would happen so quickly…but God-yeah, wow.

When we are hurried, jammed up, late or stuck, it’s so easy to stop thinking and just find that quick-fix so all will be well. Most of the time the quick-fix doesn’t last long and another fix will be needed. We need to remember to search for God first instead of a quick-fix.

In closing, when hard times hit us and we’re in a jam, instead of shouting “God, get me outa here now!” and expecting God to snap his fingers and make things perfectly right again, we should ask God to sit with us and show us something even greater than a quick-fix. And you know what that would be? God’s presence! Revel in it, AMEN.