Parallels: Home and Spiritual renovation— Electrical: The Wall and the Spot

(This is part of a series on what I learned through the process of renovating our home and the parallels to a life yielded to and experiencing God’s work in renovating our life and spirit)

The Wall and The Spot

One of the most gratifying parts of our home renovation project was getting to know the contractors we hired.  I had several memorable conversations about life and God with a few of our contracted workers, including our electrician, Nick.   

Nick is a licensed electrician who pays careful attention to his work. He did an outstanding job installing the sub-panel, wiring, lights, and outlets in our 3-season porch and basement. After he completed his work on our house and a few other jobs in the area Nick, his wife, and son followed a call and moved to Florida.

A couple months after he left, I discovered what turned out to be a defective circuit breaker in our electrical panel.   I contacted Nick, who made time to check and replace the bad circuit breaker when he was back in Minnesota to celebrate the holidays with his family. 

After he completed his work, Nick shared some perspectives on life. You see, Nick almost lost his life in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and spent many months recovering. Today he is fully recovered, and is an upbeat, grateful person. One piece of wisdom he shared with me was what he called “the wall and the spot”, and how it has helped him maintain a healthy attitude through the trials and uncertainties of life. He pointed to one of our newly painted walls, and then showed me a tiny spot on that wall.

He asked, “The spot or the wall: where is my focus?” He went on to say his key to living is to focus on the bigger picture (the wall) rather that only seeing the problems (the spot).  The meaning was clear: he saw and is grateful for the blessings of life, even as he dealt with the problems that happen in life.

His words turned out to be prophetic.

Earlier this year I had a blood clot in my leg that occurred while traveling to Arizona. Undergoing emergency surgery, spending a night in an unfamiliar hospital, and then going through several weeks of follow-up tests was challenging—both physically and spiritually. I was blessed to have family and friends who encouraged me through the tests and times of waiting for results.  During that time, I asked God to create in me a sense of peace and gratitude for all the blessings He has put in my life: my wife, family, friends, and so much more that I am tempted to take for granted. Even though I rode a wave of emotions, God held me close and gradually brought a sense of thankfulness, peace, and healing. Now as I move forward with a good health outlook, I am aware of the fragility of life here on this planet—like the spot on the wall. More importantly, however, I choose to focus on the bigger picture—the beyond-imagination, beautiful eternity that God has in store for all who love and follow Him. The Apostle Paul put it this way: 

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  (Romans 8:18)

For me, the “wall of blessing” was seeing and embracing God’s promise to never leave me alone. There is an Old Testament name I love that describes God and one of His countless attributes: Jehovah Rapha, which translates to God my healer.  God showed Himself—as He always does—as my faithful Father, Redeemer, and Healer. If you’re like me, it’s tempting to focus only on the “what-if’s” and problems that want to dominate our attention. While it’s good to take care of the problems that arise, it’s healthy to guard and support our hearts and minds with gratitude. Once again, Paul put this into words:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 4:2)

Whatever we’re going through, God invites us to bring our situations to Him in cries and prayers that include thanks. He will answer and bring us peace and spiritual eyes to see the bigger picture of His wonderful plan for our lives.

God bless you!
Chris Atkins