About a month ago, I had what felt like a major disaster in my home.  As I was in the front part of the house, my husband came running to tell me that my shoes had fallen down in the closet.  I knew that this meant so much more because the shelf that held my shoes above it also hung my dresses below it.  As I went to the back to see the mess, it truly looked as if an earthquake had hit my closet.  I was so overwhelmed at the sight that I simply closed the door unwilling to deal with the issue at that very moment.

A few hours later, I devised a plan to begin the cleanup process. My daughter and niece assisted me in removing shoe box after shoe box from the closet and lining them against a wall in our bedroom so that we could  get to the dresses which were buried underneath.  As a short term solution, I placed all of the dresses on the bed in the guest room. With company coming in town for my niece’s wedding in less than two weeks, I pouted around the horrible timing but hurried to get present with the situation so I could devise a permanent fix.

I thought about the one shelf that had carried so much.  At least 20 shoe boxes above it and then still more hanging from it in compartments designed to hang down like shelves.  And then the dresses, at least 50 were hanging there.  Thinking about it now, that lone shelf was bound to fall.  The initial thought was to hurry and get someone to hang the shelf back up but then wisdom set in and I realized I could not do the same thing and expect a different outcome.

I got online and did a little research, made a few calls and then realized that this was the perfect time to assess my needs and be sure that the solution included everything I needed.  First and foremost I realized that the shelf needed some reinforcement.  I found a shelving system that begin with 6 ft beams running down the wall.  This system also had shelves so that I would not be tempted to makeshift hanging shelves and put additional pressure on the  primary shelf.  Since the wall was damaged, I put the replacement shelf a little higher on the wall.  This provided more room at the bottom for shoes and other items.  I realized through this process that the original shelf was really put up incorrectly.  There should have been reinforcements placed in the wall where no studs were present.  The nails had been placed directly into drywall.  With that deficiency and all the pressure from my stuff, the shelf was bound to fall.

For the last few weeks, I have been pondering over this as I go in and out of my “new” closet to get the things I need.  Every piece is secure, there is more efficient use of space.  I feel a sense of peace that I never used to feel in my closet.  This entire experience reminds me of us.  We continue to operate in our own strength.  We don’t operate fully in the power God has given us.  We don’t rest securely in God’s promises. The pressures of life keep piling on us until such time that we reach our breaking point and fall. Fall into sin, fall away from church, family, relationships that keep us accountable on life’s journey.

Just like the “new” closet I have, God can rebuild us and secure our futures.  Don’t kid yourself to think you’re exempt from falling.  Scripture tells us that a “just man falleth seven times, and riseth again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs 24:16) At our very best, we will fall, so why not operate at our very best. This best is not based on “doing good” or “earning favor”.  Those things are evidence that we understand our best is a life of awareness to “God’s grace” and “all that He has finished for us on the cross”.  With life’s demands and pressures on us, you’re bound to fall.  Why not fall securely into the arms of a loving God, who can help you to rise again?