Last week, my laptop stopped working. I would open the lid, and it was dead as a doornail no matter how many times I hit the power button. It would not charge either—I even tried a friend's charger and different outlets. I have not had any problems with my beloved MacBook since I got it for Christmas three years ago… until last week.
I didn’t realize how dependent I am on my computer until it broke, so I did everything I knew to do. I searched forever on Google for solutions. I called the IT people at UNCC. I talked to a representative through Apple Support. Finally, despite my stubborn desire to be independent, I called my dad. After no definite answers from anyone, I was planning on taking my laptop to the Apple Store that evening.
As a last resort before driving 30 minutes to the store, I went by the NinerTech Computer Store on campus and told them my situation. They told me they would take a look at it and repair it if needed. Luckily, I had one month of Apple Care warranty left on my computer, so I didn’t have to pay a dime. Hesitantly, I left my laptop in the hands of the specialists in hopes that it would be fixed without long-term effects.
Later that afternoon, I got a call from NinerTech. “We fixed your computer!” I responded with a cheer and walked to pick up my laptop. I was eager to find out what went wrong. When I got there, the man presented my laptop, as good as new, and exclaimed, “This was stuck in your computer.”
It was a gum wrapper. A tiny piece of a gum wrapper was trapped inside my laptop and preventing it from turning on. When I discovered this, my face went red as I giggled in embarrassment. I guess one day I was fidgeting with my gum wrapper in class, and a portion of it fell behind my keyboard and got stuck. I immediately called my dad and told him the news, and he died laughing.
So, that’s my story that makes me look like a dummy. But who cares. As I have thought about this event, I have pondered a cheesy but powerful metaphor. Here it is…
The way I tried to fix my computer on my own is the way I often try to fix my problems on my own. When I have things “stuck” in my head and heart, I sometimes use Jesus as a last resort rather than an initial desire. I waste so much time trying to feel happier and free own my own rather than going directly to the source of true joy and freedom in the first place!
Do you do this too? We have this attitude of independence and toughness that breeds stubbornness in our souls. We do everything we possibly can to fix our problems on our own before surrendering our burdens to Christ—the only one who can truly heal our hearts.
I told my friends I do not feel that stupid about my computer issue because there is honestly no way I would have known what to do on my own! How in the world would I have discovered that a little gum wrapper was preventing my computer from running?!
Within each of our hearts, there is brokenness, pain, guilt, loneliness, hopelessness, and bitterness that holds us back from living the life we were made to live. Yes, we all exist, but are we really living? I carried my laptop in my book bag all day, but it was useless because it didn’t work. It was only after I surrendered it to someone else who knew how to repair it that it begin serving an important purpose.
Friends, every time we try to use anything but Jesus Christ to heal our wounds, we will fail. “The only One who can truly satisfy the human heart is the One who made it.” All we have to do to extract the ugliness from our souls is lay down our lives to the Lord. It is finished, it is done—Christ already paid the price for our sins on the cross. We have a lifetime Apple warranty. (I know the cheesiness is terrible, but I had to add it.) :)
Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow.
