"It is what it is," is no answer except to say that you are begging off responsibility to do anything, to the point of not even wanting to hear someone else's opinion.

Joanna was standing outside her car at an intersection, dismal that the car had, once again, stalled. It seemed to her that it was inevitably connected with being in a hurry, or late, depending on her level of "busy-ness." Her "whatever-pod," was useless.

She put up the hood to signal her need. She saw a car coming and flagged it down. Joe got out of his car and asked if he could be of any help. "I can't get it started," she said, "but if you jiggle the wire on the battery, I think it will work." Joe grabbed the positive battery cable and it came off in his hand. The cable was definitely too loose. "The terminal needs to be tightened up," he told her. "I can fix it if you have some tools."

"My husband says to just jiggle the wire," she replied. "It always works. Why don't you just try that?"
Joe hesitated for a moment, sarcastically wondering to himself why her husband didn't ride around town with her so he would be available when the wire needed jiggling. Finally he said, "Madame, if I jiggle the wire, you're going to need someone else do it every time you shut the engine off. If you'll give me two minutes and a wrench, we can solve the problem and you can forget about it."

Reluctantly, she fumbled under the front seat and then handed him a crescent wrench through the window of the old car. As he tightened the battery terminal, it occurred to Joe how many times he had tried, in his own life, to get a "quick fix," from God. "I have this problem, Lord, and if you just get me going again the quickest way possible."

It seems to me that God doesn't want to just "jiggle wires," does He? God wants you and me to take the time necessary to deal with our real problems and fix them; one at a time. It will take time but, with God's help, you can do it. To get the long-term solution necessary to deal with your real problem (sin) in your life requires a complete surrender to God and a willingness to go forward on His terms.

You have to be willing to cooperate with God in whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. Ask the Lord to say "no" when you want to ask that He "jiggle" a wire.

"Even now, says the Lord,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning,

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the Lord, your God.

for gracious and merciful is He,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment." (Jl 2:12,13)

The relentless love of God comes to each and all of us with this Lenten invitation: "Return to me and I will be gracious to you."

Is your heart ready for His grace?