Warning Signs!
I need brakes on my car. How do I know? Because every time I press down on them, I hear one of two things; a high pitched screeching noise or a low rumbling sound. Now, before your start fussing at me for driving around on bad brakes, I have to say that I am planning to get them fixed this week...hopefully. I am trying to find a convenient time when I can drop my car off to the mechanic and leave it there for him to fix on a day that I don’t NEED my car! In my mind, I KNOW that I have to get them fixed soon or they will continue to get worse, and God forbid, put my life or someone else’s in danger...BUT...I’m sure that won’t happen, because I do PLAN to get them fixed...this week...for sure. I have to because every time I press down on my brakes, a bit of fear overtakes me...what if this is the time that they won’t work!
Our lives are like this sometimes...right? We know we need to do certain things to ensure our health and safety, both spiritually and physically. We know we need to stop doing what we are doing and “fix the problem” because we can see, hear and feel the warning signs all over the place: weight gain, tiredness, stress, irritability and my all-time favorite apathy...I just don’t even care no more! Yet, we ignore the warning signs because sometimes “fixing the problem” means that we will be inconvenienced or worst yet uncomfortable! We delay what we know to be best for us and hope that this will not be the day that we fear may come upon us, the day when our problem becomes a dangerous circumstance that may costs us more than we are willing to pay!
God gives us warning signs so that we can pay attention to what needs “fixing” in our spiritual lives. When we don’t feel like praying or reading our Bibles...it’s a warning sign. When we fly off the handle at our kids or our spouse...that’s a warning sign. When we think thoughts that are not aligned with who and what God says we are....that’s a warning sign. God loves each of us so much, that He will continue to allow these warning signs to sound like blaring sirens or feel like heavy loads until we stop and pay attention. If we continue to ignore the warning signs our SPIRITUAL lives WILL be in danger...The Bible says in Mark 8:36 “For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? “. God’s will is that none of us should perish, especially our spiritual lives!
So this is our wake-up call to stop ignoring the warning signs in our lives and to pay attention to what needs “fixing”! We know that we cannot “fix” ourselves or our problems alone. We need God! We have to trust in His Word that tells us that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13) and that God will perfect everything concerning you (Ps. 138:8). It is only when we submit ourselves to God that we can resist the devil and cause him to flee (James 4:7). I encourage all of us to count up the costs, determine if being comfortable is really worth ignoring the warning signs and living in fear of the worst happening or are the feelings of being inconvenienced and uncomfortable only a short-term experience that reaps long-term benefits! I am calling the mechanic to fix my brakes TODAY....what are YOU going to do?!
