The look on my little granddaughter’s face broke my heart.
When our grandchildren visit they love playing with a black lab dog (made out of resin) that sits in a basket in our guest room. I’ve told them they can play with it but not to carry it around the house because it’s heavy, and if they dropped it, it would hurt them and it would break.
I was working in the kitchen awhile back during one of their visits. I heard giggles from the direction of the guest room and as I turned my head that way, I saw Ava and Anna running down the hall, their little faces lit by big smiles. Ava was carrying the black lab.
I started to say, “Ava, put that down. It would really hurt your foot if you dropped it.” But before I could get past the first word or two, she lost her grip on the dog. I heard a loud bang and a cracking sound as it hit the floor.
I ran to the girls. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Both of them were fine but I’ll never forget the range of emotions that crossed Ava’s face that day. The smile was gone immediately, followed by a look of guilt, fear, and then utter sadness. Tears welled in her eyes and splashed down her cheeks. She had broken something she loved.
She choked out, “Grandmama, I’m sorry.”
I gathered her in my arms and hugged her. I said, “Baby, it’s okay. That’s why Grandmama told you not to carry it, because I knew what would happen if you dropped it.”
I wiped away her tears and then picked up the broken pieces of the dog and put them back in the basket. The kids all loved it so much that I was going to try to glue the dog back together and touch up the paint. But I got busy, and it ended up sitting in that basket for several weeks.
Ava visited by herself one day. She loves Band-Aids so I didn’t think anything about it when she asked for some. But after a little time went by and I noticed things were awfully quiet, I went to check on her.
She was in the guest room sitting in front of the basket, using Band-Aids to try to put the dog back together again. But it didn’t work.
The dog was broken–and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get it back like it was before she dropped it.
You know what? It’s just like that with God. Our loving Father says, “Don’t touch that. Don’t do that. Stay away from that place.” He knows that it isn’t good for us, that we’ll get hurt if we do what He warns us against.
He knows the ones who will have an affair that will wreck many lives. He knows those who will end up as alcoholics. He knows the lives that will be ruined by porn.
But we ignore Him because we think we know best or we think we’re going to have fun.
Sweet friends, don’t end up with broken lives because you ignored God’s loving advice. It’s not worth it. Because–just like Ava’s beloved resin dog–once your life is broken, you can’t get it back like it was before. The scars will be there. And often your actions will impact those you love in ways that will affect you all forever.
Your loving Father wants to spare you that pain. Listen to the One who loves you more than life itself. Determine now that you’re going to live your life in a manner that you never have to look back and discover that you’ve broken something that you love.
Dear Father, clear our hearts and minds so that we’ll hear Your still small voice. Help us to heed your warnings when we’re about to stray. Keep us close to You so we don’t mess up and break the hearts and lives of those we love. Amen.
