Coming unstuck…

Way back in the 1960’s, a scientist at the stationary company 3M, Dr Spencer Silver was working on developing  a super strength adhesive. However, he instead accidentally created a ‘low-tack’ reusable and pressure sensitive adhesive. This happened in 1968 and despite it being a breakthrough in glue technology, the good Dr couldn’t think of the right ‘application’ for the glue (pun not intended, but welcomed nevertheless). He had come unstuck in his development.

Was this to become one of those silly inventions that are relegated to the annals of history as something cool, but stupid, like ‘shoe umbrellas’ or ‘chopstick fans’?

Never fear, in 1974 a colleague at 3M, Art Fry, after having attended one of Dr Silver’s lecture about his glue had a brainwave. Whilst he was singing in his church choir, he was musing about how he could put bookmarks in his hymn book so that he could easily find the next song without damaging the pages when he remembered Dr Silver’s discovery. Art Fry worked on the idea, and used yellow scarp paper from the lab next door to his to create the peel & press bookmarks. These were launched in 1977, but the idea did not take on fully until free samples were sent out the following year, which proved to be a success, and in 1979 ‘Post-It’ notes as we have come to know and love them went into full production in 1979.

The rest is history as you say.

A seeming failure was repurposed and changed the stationary industry as we know it.

The apostle Peter is another example of someone coming unstuck. In the gospel of Luke, after having fiercely proclaimed that he would never deny Jesus, we find him doing exactly that, much to his own bitter regret. The rock band ‘Third Day’ sing a great song from Peter’s perspective about this called ‘I can’t take the pain‘.

This looked like a failure that could not be fixed. Peter had come unglued and where could he go from his denial? What could he do?

Thankfully God does not leave us in our sin and failure, but through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has made a way for us to be restored and for our lives to be turned around.

This happened for Peter. Jesus lovingly restored him and on the day of Pentecost, we see this Christ denying apostle, boldly declaring that Jesus was the Messiah.

The same can happen in our lives. God can take our messes, our brokenness and our failure and when we place our lives into his hands, we can see him turn it all around like we would never have imagined. “In the end I will turn things around for the people. I’ll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted,
words to address God in worship and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel. They’ll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers, they’ll come praying — All my scattered, exiled people will come home with offerings for worship.” – Zephaniah 3.

Be blessed!