I lived in a house that needed a lot of work. That’s what made it affordable. The near identical home next door was all dolled up and more expensive, and some day mine would be like that one – or so I thought. I was never short on ideas, only time and money. When I had the time I would tackle a project or two around the place, and when I had the money, I would hire the work out. Some of the first projects involved fixing leaks. I patched several cracks in the foundation that were easily accessible, but needed to hire a professional to patch the crack in the wall located under the driveway. All of the leaks in the basement were fixed, but there were still other leaks in the house.
One Sunday evening after a trip out of town, I noticed a paint blister the size of a baseball on the bathroom ceiling. Being curious, I poked it. Sploosh! It was filled with water. The roof had sprung a leak. The location of the leak made it a real challenge. I didn’t have the money to completely replace the roof, so spot repairs were necessary; repairs I wasn’t capable of performing. Again, I needed a professional. I knew the house needed a lot of work, but come on already, I was tired of dealing with leaks. I wanted to start some fun projects.
Some years later, I hired a handyman to completely renovate the upstairs. It involved remodeling the two existing bedrooms and bath, plus adding a walk-in closet. This was one of those fun projects, and the closet would quadruple the amount of closet space in the house. I had carefully measured and prepared detailed drawings for the handyman in order to maximize the amount of closet space. One evening, I went to check on his progress, and noticed that he chose to deviate from the prints, causing the closet to be smaller by about three feet. He was far enough along that I didn’t have the work re-done. I decided to modify the closet myself in the future.
As my family grew, I needed to claim that unrealized closet space. I started early one morning with the demolition work, then reworked the framing and by mid-afternoon had started the drywall work. As I was driving the very last drywall screw in, I felt a bit of resistance, so I just put my shoulder into it and drove it home. As soon as I relaxed, I heard a hissing sound. I backed the screw out, and the hiss became a roar, and out of the hole came a high-pressure stream of water. I had driven that last screw into the copper supply line for the upstairs bathroom sink! The shut-off valve was close by, but in less than a minute the leak caused a lot of damage. I cleaned things up, dried things off, repaired the leak and finished the drywall work without further incident by about midnight. Here’s something I know for sure, whether it’s in a foundation, roof, or a water pipe, leaks are BAD! They must be plugged, filled, and stopped even though it uses up precious time and money.
Now, if I tell you that God has created you and me to leak, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a puzzled look on your face. You might even strongly disagree with me, because we all know leaks are bad, and God’s handiwork is very good. When we attempt to translate a natural experience or truth (leaking house pipes are bad) to God’s supernatural work (He made His children to leak), confusion and misunderstanding often arise, but here’s another thing I know for sure; God’s ways are not man’s ways. So here’s a supernatural truth, God fills us with His Holy Spirit and gives us gifts so that His work would flow through us; not stay in us. His purpose in this is to help the entire church. (1Cor 12:6-11 and 1 Peter 4:10-11)
The filling is for flowing out to others. This kind of flowing doesn’t cause damage, it is not defective design, and we didn’t do anything to cause it; so there is no need to find a shut-off valve, as is the natural inclination. If we are using His gifts as intended, He will continue to supply all of the energy and strength necessary; we will never run “dry” or out of the Holy Spirit when doing life God’s way. When we get in the habit of going with the “flow,” He will even supernaturally open up the valve so that a leak becomes a gusher for the express purpose of flowing through us all the more. When I leak, you win, and when you leak, I win. When we leak, the church wins! Can you see how plugging the holes in this case would be BAD? It is God’s intention for me to spring a leak. He has the same intention for you too.
Grace to you.
Dave Paukner
