Everything Wears Out

 

 

“Why isn’t the water getting hot?”  My son asked as he held his hand under the stream of water coming out of the faucet.

I moved my hand to check the water.  It was luke warm and seemed to be getting colder rather than warmer.  I shook my head.  “The hot water heater is probably going out,” I said.

“What does that mean?”  Elliot asked plaintively.

“Shorter showers?”  I suggested.  “Or baths that resemble the experience the people jumping off the Titanic got?”

“I’m going to warm up water on the stove and use that for my bath,” my eldest daughter said, definitively.  “It may be old school, but it beats having to choose between freezing and being filthy.”

Last week was a bad stretch for our home.  Our hot water heater went out, our dishwasher stopped working, and our gas fireplace ceased lighting.  I thought about all of these gloomily and wondered what the next item was to go on the fritz.  I hoped it wouldn’t be the coffee maker.  That truly would be a catastrophe that would rival the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in scope.

“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.  They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” (Psalm 102:25-27)

Everything on earth is gradually wearing out.  Some things, like cell phones, wear out faster than others, but eventually Father Time remains undefeated and all things will grind down.  All things, that is, except for the Almighty.

It is such a blessing that our Heavenly Father is dependable and that He never wears down, never gives up, and never fails.  More than that, His love is just as changeless and though all of the rest of the Universe grinds down, His matchless love won’t.

It is easy to feel discouraged when your daily shower doubles as an ice bath, but maybe that should simply get us to count the blessings of serving a God whose love doesn’t take weekends off, even if our kitchen appliances do.