Where I am now in Lima, Peru, it is a desert. When you look around, it appears that there is no way that people should be able to live here. How are there 10 million people living in a desert? Somehow, they get water to show up.
One morning a few weeks ago, I turned on the water faucet to wash our my coffee cup. I heard a desperate gurgle, and I got a few puffs of air. There was work being done on the street in the neighborhood, and the water was shut off. We went out and got some bottled water. But that wasn’t going to last, because the water was gone for a few days. In the meantime of eating and showering out, I noticed the large water tank on our roof. “What’s up with the water tank?” It doesn’t work. We need to get someone in here to fix it. I thought, that’s something to check out. But then the water came back, and things got busy and I forgot about it.
Until the water was gone again. Then I decided: it’s time for some investigation.
I started to inspect the piping and the valves of the house. I then got on the roof and open the water tank. It was full. Pieces of the mystery started coming together. Finally, we found the main water valve and the valve for the tank. We sealed off the house from the main line, and opened the water tank valve, and voila, there was water in the desert!
The tank was never broken. In fact the valve was always right in front of our eyes.
It just look a little investigation.
I was once living in a place temporarily where there was an internet router for wifi access. Anyone could connect their phones or computers if they wanted. Except for one problem: the light on the router would keep turning from blue to orange. Blue means, good, you have an internet connection, you go. Orange means, you’re going to have to wait staring at the wifi bars on your computer until they come back. It was so frustrating having the internet constantly kicking out and coming back on, that one guy gave up and just bought a big cell phone plan. Why was this happening, I asked? It was a bad provider. We need to get a new plan, and etc. etc.
But one day, I thought: it’s time for some investigation.
I started with the wifi router with the blue and orange lights. It worked. Then I moved on to the next connection. It was like a cube of plastic dangling from wires like overripe fruit. I played with the wires and noticed that the blue would change to orange and back. That’s right, a loose connection. That was it. After that, no one had anymore orange light nightmares. I think the overall patience level in the house got a boost.
But the internet was never really broken. It was a loose connection, right in plain sight.
It just took a little investigation.
Do you know why life can get so complicated. I think it’s because when there’s some maintenance to be done, or someone or something comes into life or leaves life – when life doesn’t go as we planned or think it should – what is the first thing we do? We make a judgment. It’s broken, it’s time to replace, it’s time to get an expensive professional, etc. But if we take some time out to do a little investigation, we may find that life is not broken at all, and that there’s a simple solution. And that it’s always been right in front of our eyes.
When Jesus came, he came to restore sight to the blind. To give us the capacity to realize that what we are looking for in life is actually right in front of our eyes.
It just takes a little investigation.
“I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” (Jn 9:39)
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ALM 