fix you

Esther Hughes tells us how God can catch our attention and speak to us through things we might consider to be ‘secular’

Imagine an ordinary commute home after a long shift, the events and emotions of the day swilling around your mind, and the song ‘Fix You’ comes on the radio. Familiar to most of us, I can’t help but sing along, imagining myself at a Coldplay concert with goosebumps and my phone light swaying. Maybe it takes you back to a pivotal moment in a film or TV show, or a moment in your life.

I wonder, have you ever thought about the well-known lyrics? You may or may not know that Chris Martin wrote this song to comfort his then-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, after her dad died, just weeks before they met.

The song paints a picture of loss, struggle, frustration and exhaustion and points to a deep longing of resolution. Chris expresses his hope of trying to ‘fix’ his wife going through immense grief and pain. It connects with us because that experience of struggle, loss, and longing is so common, isn’t it?

Personally, I resonate with some of these feelings as a nurse – a deep longing to ‘fix’ the pain, loss and struggle of my patients, and even more so, a longing for them to know the deepest Fix, only found in our saviour, Jesus.

It’s so reassuring that the Bible talks honestly about the experiences of pain and frustration in life. Many of God’s people lament – calling out to him in their struggles. I love David’s honest heart in the Psalms: ‘I am overwhelmed with troubles’, ‘my eyes are dim with grief’ and asks ‘How long, Lord?’ (Psalm 88 and 13). Yet in the same songs, he says, ‘I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you’ and ‘I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation’.

In contrast to Chris ‘trying’ to fix his wife in her grief, with no certainty or guarantee, we have total certainty of a Saviour who is truly able to ‘fix’ our deepest need, of peace with God. Jesus is the only one who can truly fix what’s broken in us and in those we love and care for. He knows all the longings of our heart and in his care, calls us to cast our anxieties on him. Are we doing that? Are we inviting him into the care of our patients and calling on him to fix their deepest needs? What comfort it is that Christ holds us as we carry the burdens of those we care for, and will one day truly fix all the pain, loss, or frustration of our world.

Maybe this song will resonate a little more deeply next time we hear it, and remind us to lament and pray to our Lord.

Ester Hughes is a Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist