I was off Friday last week and it was a productive day.  I got an oil change for the car and had a tire repaired.  The tire had a slow leak due to a nail that I picked up somewhere in the last couple of months.  The fact that the tire kept deflating slowly over time was noticeable in a couple of ways.  First, there was a warning light that lit up on the dashboard.  I was not sure at first exactly what that light meant but there it was staring me in the face every day.  I finally checked the manual and learned that based on the color of the light that one or more of my tires was under-inflated.  I pulled over within a couple of days and checked the air and sure enough the back tire was a little low.  The light came on again in about a week.  About the same time I noticed that my miles per gallon reading had gone down a little bit.  I guess the under inflated tire was making the engine work a little harder to get me down the road.

After a few more (okay, several) days of procrastination I finally filled the tire up with air again.  I looked at the tire and saw a nail in it.  At that point I finally scheduled some time off to take care of it.  I knew that if I put it off too long I might have a blow out while I was going down the road and hurt myself, my passengers or somebody else.  My situation with that tire reminds me of the way that sin, bad habits, and selfishness can creep into our life.

Many times there are little warning signs that pop up on our “dashboard” letting us know that something needs to be checked and taken care of.  Maybe we recognize that others are reacting to us a little differently.  Maybe we have feelings of anxiety or distress that are making us act and react in a way that we would rather not act.  Warning signs may come in many forms and fashions.  The question is not necessarily what will they look like but how will we deal with them when we notice them?  Will we drive on tires that are continuing to go flat?  Will we risk a blow out on the highway with loved ones in the car?  Or will we finally be moved to take care of whatever is causing the problem?  David said in Psalm 119:29

Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.

My experience has been that God will always help us to understand what is causing us grief in our lives.  If we seek God in prayer and spend time in His word (the instruction manual for living that He has provided for us) He will help us understand the warning lights in our life.  He will help us to begin to repair those things that hinder us from traveling well in our journey of faith.