A Makeshift Life

By Pastor Jeffrey Smith 

Have you ever learned how to make something work that was broken?

Back in the day, my grandpa had a TV with antennas. When the reception was messed up, he figured out a way to fix it using aluminum foil to help tune it in. We would ask him why he didn’t get that fixed and he would mumble about it being too difficult - he would have to buy new TV, new antennas and cable; he would rather just make it work.

Many times in life, we find that things are broken. We know the way we are living is broken, our family is broken, our bodies are broken, but we choose to stay and live that way.

Rather than getting to the heart of the problem or finding a solution that really fixes things, we learn how to live a makeshift life. 

Jesus never offers the opportunity to live a makeshift life. He clearly says, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” (John 14:6). He wants to give us the life He intended for us to have. Stop using aluminum foil like my grandfather; it doesn’t work.

Jesus shares with us a story about a woman who had a makeshift life. In Luke 8:40-48, it reads,

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.…
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

What I like about this lady is that she builds up the courage to finally do something outside of her comfort zone, something audacious for Jesus. It says that no one could heal her. She had tried that. However, this time, she put a demand on the anointing which was on Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We must come to a point where we get sick and tired of our makeshift life that keeps us from moving forward in our relationship with God and realize, like this woman, that Jesus is standing right there.  

Jesus is waiting for you to get the faith to believe that He is good enough, powerful enough, strong enough to heal you of your condition. He fixes makeshift lives.

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