Hidden Faults
by Malcolm Wood
When a Central Heating boiler breaks down it’s inconvenient at the best of times. When it breaks down in October in the North East of Scotland and there are a group of International leaders about to arrive and stay for a week, something has to be done fairly quickly! This was the situation at Blairmore House a few weeks ago.
An engineer came and quite quickly identified what he considered to be the problem. He was able to replace the two components which were ‘burnt out’ and had the boiler running again, much to our relief. Imagine our dismay when within twelve hours we were once again aware of an unwelcome chill around the building. Yes, the boiler had failed again and some of the guests had already started to arrive!
It was now the weekend and the engineer who answered our call on this occasion proceeded to do a thorough investigation of the origin of the problem. This involved accessing parts deep inside the internal workings of the boiler. Eventually he found that the small electrodes which produce the spark to ignite the fuel were broken and not able to produce the spark as and where it should be. Having found the problem he was soon able to rectify it and have the boiler up and running again. Thankfulness all around!
As with so much in the physical world around us, there are many every day parables for us to learn from if only we have ears and eyes open to what God wants to say to us through them.
In the case of this boiler, just replacing the peripheral components was not sufficient for a long term solution to the problem. The root of the problem was much deeper and had to be dealt with for the efficient operation of the boiler so that it could bring blessing in the form of heat and comfort to others.
We can be so much like that first engineer and only deal with the ‘surface issues’ instead of allowing the Holy Spirit, the heavenly engineer, to take us to the real source of the problem and help us put it right.
Prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Amen.
Malcolm Wood and his wife Anna became part of the Ellel family as House Managers at Ellel Grange in 1990. Since then they have been involved with many aspects of the developing Ministry. From 2001 until 2015 they were Directors of Ellel Scotland where they hosted several International Schools and Operation Blairmore and helped pioneer the exciting Creative Inspiration Weeks. They have three sons.
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