Stop Being A Mrs. Fix-it

On the way home from the gym, I was listening to a home improvement show. A woman called the radio station, wanting to know how to caulk her bathtub. She told the host of the program that her husband wasn’t much of a handyman, so she was going to become “Mrs. Fix-It.”
A flash of insight struck me when she called herself “Mrs. Fix-It.” I thought to myself, Wow! I’ve always tried to be a Mrs. Fix-It, too—just in a different way.
I’ve always loved to problem-solve, analyze and figure things out. As I constantly search for ways to make things better for myself and others, my mind finds it hard to shut down. I see problems everywhere, and want to fix them all!
As you can imagine, being a Mrs. Fix-It is an exhausting job. There is never any shortage of situations that require help. And the busier I get trying to fix them, the more they seem to multiply. Like some sort of sadistic video game, no sooner do I shoot down one problem, when ten more appear.
Once someone has been a Mrs. Fix-It for many years, it isn’t very easy to change. After all, it’s pretty addicting to fix things. We gain a smug satisfaction from being able to point out all the situations we have valiantly remedied. Pretty soon our whole self-image gets wrapped up in our ability to fix the unfixable.
Yet some things simply can’t be fixed by human effort, no matter how noble the effort. The world is woefully imperfect. This is hard for fix-it people like me to accept, for we would like to believe we can fix anything we set our minds to.
I’ve had to face a hard reality: If I could fix and control everything, I would be God! Gradually I’ve had to concede that He’s the ultimate “Handyman,” the only one who can reverse all the effects of fallen humanity.
What about you?

• Make a list of some troubling areas of your life you are frequently tempted to “fix”—even though they can only be fixed by God or other people.