The cabinet door was broken.  It was out of alignment.  That had two consequences:  

1.  It was in the way when we tried to open the dishwasher.
2. It was driving my wife crazy.

So I set out to fix it…

I took a hammer and hit the front as hard as I could.  Nope.  Still broken.

I drilled three tiny holes in the front, then sealed patches on all three holes.  Still broken.

I painted both the front and the back.  Still broken.

I shut it completely, waited three minutes, opened it up again.  Works for my computer.  Did not work for cabinet.

No, I didn’t do any of this.  Why would I?  We all know that the problem with a misaligned door is not the door.  It is the hinge.  

I fixed the hinge (duh).
Seems to me as though we spend a lot of time complaining about the doors in this world but not enough time looking at the hinges.  (Just so you know, I am the hinge in this scenario.)

Or, put another way:  Everyone wants change, but nobody wants TO change.

God wants to come in to my life today and realign.  He is ready to rescue and my response is typically, “Yes, fix the door God.  Hey.  What are you doing with that hinge.  The problem is them.  Not me.”

The Bible has this verse of warning for a young pastor:  2 Timothy 4:3 says, “The time wil come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will gather around them teachers in accordance with their own desires.”

The writer, Paul, speaks of a people that refuse to listen to anyone that is out of alignment with their own beliefs.  They refuse to listen to anyone that tells them the truth.  They refuse God.

So I have this challenge for me – and for you too if you will listen.

Let God change you first – then see if the world doesn’t look different.

Jesus, I am ready for a change.  Change me.