Extreme Makeover

My shower has a cracked pan. A few weeks ago, I thought a pan was something you cooked in. But apparently, it is also an important piece of plumbing equipment. And mine has a crack in it.

You can’t even see the pan. It sits below the drain, below the floor of the shower. If there hadn’t been a problem, I would never have known the pan was there. But that crack, though invisible to my eyes, has made itself known.

My shower, which sits in a corner, borders two walls in our home. One wall is in our bathroom. There is now water damage on the floor, on the wall, on the sheetrock. There is even some mold starting to creep its way up that wall. The other wall is in our bedroom. The carpet there is wet, and the baseboard is soaked.

I can’t fix that crack by myself. It is not a do-it-yourself kind of job. If I want my shower to stop leaking, the entire shower is going to have to come out. The walls will have to come down, and the entire area will have to be dried out and cleaned out. Then, I will need to get an entirely new shower.

This is a job for the experts.

I’m sure it will cost a pretty penny. And I won’t be able to use my shower for a while. The whole process isn’t going to be fun.

But the good news is, I’m getting a new bathroom! I’ve never been really happy with that bathroom. Oh, it was fine. I was content. But it wasn’t my dream bathroom. Now, because of the damage caused by this little cracked pan, my bathroom will get an extreme makeover! (Budget friendly edition.)

I can feel an analogy coming on.

Most of us, if we look closely, have cracks in the pans of our lives. It may be a crack in our spirits, that has been there since childhood. It may be a crack in our character. Those tiny cracks are often invisible to the rest of the world. We dress up, put on our best smiles, and convince others that we are solid and smooth. And we choose to ignore in ourselves what others can’t see.

But if left unchecked, those cracks will cause some pretty serious damage! Eventually, the crack will grow, causing all kinds of unwanted things to seep out into our lives. Before we know it, everyone around us will be able to see the wet carpet and the mold that is growing on the surface.

Because the problem is under the surface, it can’t be fixed with a simple patch. It requires the Professional, who will come in, tear out the old, nasty, damaged part of our lives, and replace it with something new and fresh. And that part is no fun at all. It is uncomfortable and annoying. It hurts.

But if we let Him have control, we will always be pleased with the end results! If we let Him come in and tear out, clean out and replace, we will end up with sparkling, shiny new spirits. Extreme Makeover, Soul Edition.

I’ve had a few of those makeovers in my time. They are never fun while they are happening. But trust me, they are worth the trouble. I am a stronger, wiser, better person than I would be, had those cracks stayed in my life.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get my kitchen remodeled, while we’re at it . . .

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”