How Hard Can It Be?

How Hard Can It Be?Dr. Vince Hefner, PastorFirst Baptist ChurchCherryville, North CarolinaLast Saturday started out like every other Saturday during the springtime of the year. I cut the grass, cleaned up the garage, and completed any unfinished tasks around the house that I had been putting off. I had finished all my regular responsibilities when my wife told me that the bathroom sink was clogged. I figured this would be a quick 30 minute job and I could rest after I had fixed the problem with the sink. I asked myself, “How hard can it be?”What I thought was going to be an easy job turned into a 10 round heavyweight battle – at fight which I would lose! Round 1 began when I found an old coat hanger and straightened it out so I could poke it through whatever was slowing up the water. I thought the coat hanger was a great idea, and I could save the money that I would have to pay a plumber.Round 2 started as I pushed the coat hanger down into the drain. I suddenly heard the sound of water running. I looked under the sink and realized that I had knocked a hole in the “J-bend” pipe with the coat hanger, and water was empting on the floor. Round 2 went to the sink! “No problem,” I told myself, “I will unscrew the piece that is leaking, go the hardware store and get a new piece.”Round 3 commenced as I unscrewed the piece from the sink; but the pipe that fits into the wall broke into two pieces. Round 3 went to the sink. “No problem, I’ll just buy all the stuff that I need and have all new stuff for the sink. How hard can this be?”Round 4! I went to the store, got what I needed and returned to finish the 30-minute task – the task that had now lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. I returned from the store with the items that I needed, but I didn’t get one piece so I had to go back to the store yet again. Round 4 was a draw.Round 5 now began. I arrived back at the house and got everything in place except for the pipe that fit into the sink. I pushed on it too hard and it broke into small pieces. Round 5 definitely went to the sink.In Round 6 I removed the sink completely off the cabinet and took it with me to the hardware store to get the right piece. However, I bought the wrong length of pipe and when I returned home I asked my next-door neighbor to cut it to size. He agreed to help me out. Round 6 went to my neighbor and me.Round 7, the final round, was next. I placed the sink back in its place, tightened everything up and turned on the water. You should have seen it, because it looked like a sprinkler system turned wide open in the room! By this time the thought of “How hard can it be?” had left my mind completely. I realized that I needed a plumber and perhaps a priest to get me out of this situation.The sink registered a TKO and won the match. I was covered in water and grime when I arose from underneath the sink and asked my wife if she wanted me to do anything else to the house. She said, “No!”How many times have you tried to straighten something out in your life in your own strength? Maybe it is a relationship with a friend or family member that has gone astray. If you are a Christian, and try to settle problems without Christ, you will fail. John 15:5 records the words of Jesus when He said, “For apart from Me you can do nothing.”I realize that there are some tasks in life that we cannot complete properly without help, such as plumbing or electrical work. I am grateful that God has blessed certain people with the desire to learn and do these tasks for the rest of us.In our daily lives, however, we will never accomplish anything of value without Christ leading the way. If you are in a quandary now with someone you care about, make sure that Christ is leading you to say and do the things that you are saying and doing. Without Christ in your life, the question is not, “How hard can this be?” but “When am I going to turn it over to Jesus?” Remember, don’t give in to sin. Think about it!