I Ruined My Garage Door

I had to replace our garage door because of an unplanned accident. I was hoping to install a garage door opener soon, but had still not invested in one, so I simply had a rope hanging from the bottom of the door to pull it shut. I had backed the pickup into the garage and was leaving one morning when the rope caught on something that I had in back of the truck. I did not realize what had happened until I heard a crash and looked behind me to see that I had pulled the whole garage door off the track and out of the garage. At least I had not pulled the whole garage down.
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My wife had heard the crash as well and came from the house to see what had happened. She offered to help me get everything loose and see how much could be salvaged. I simply reached in my pocket, took out my knife, cut the rope, and told her we could worry about it later.
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Actually I said, “let’s deal with this when I am more calm.” My wife said that I sounded fairly calm as I said that, but inside I was feeling a mixture of shame, discouragement, uncertainty, and despair.
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I left the garage door lay in its crumpled mess, jumped in the truck, and proceeded to my destination. The drive gave me time to put things into perspective. First, no one was hurt. That was reason to rejoice. Further, the pickup had not been damaged. That was good. Further the rest of the garage was fine. That was a positive as well.
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Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.” (NKJV)
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The short drive gave me time to pray and to think of many things that I could praise God for even though a discouraging event had just taken place. As I drove I thanked God that things were not worse.
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I also had time to realize that in the big scope of things, this accident really wasn’t that big of a deal. Sure, it would take an extra day of my life to order, pick up, and install a new door. Furthermore, the new garage door would be an added expense that we were not planning at this time, but those were really just minor distractions. How many times hadn’t a cold or the flue taken a day of my time? How many times hadn’t God provided for us financially in ways we had not even expected? The answers to these questions brought comfort as I thought on those things that are good and I remembered that I had much reason to be praising God.
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After I got back home I was anxious to figure out how much of the old door could be salvaged. I quickly found out that very little of it was worth saving. That was okay, though, because I was now looking at the whole situation with thankfulness, rather than despair. I priced new panels and hardware and quickly realized that it would be cheaper to just buy a whole new door. Then I found out that the new doors were on sale and were 20% off regular price. I was then able to praise God for the timing of this small disaster.
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As I look back, I am much calmer now and I actually laugh as I think about the pickup pulling the garage door behind it. I actually wish that someone had caught the event on video camera. I am confident that it would have become a Youtube sensation. Even as I laugh, I am reminded that there are many reasons to praise God, even when our lives are disrupted by unplanned events. I pray that this lesson will be far more valuable than the cost of the garage door and that it will remind me to have the right attitude when the next trial comes along.