Sunday, August 22, 2010

my daily oil change...

on friday i took my car to the dealership for an oil change. we were a couple hundred miles over the mark but we were there and ready to get the car checked out & ready to go for the next 3,000 miles.... or so i thought.

two hours into my visit i went down to the desk and asked if everything was ok... but it wasn't, there were a few issues that were necessary to fix... something to do with oil and leaking on the engine. the extent of knowledge about cars in our household is slim: we drive our cars, put gas in them, and take them for oil changes. However, I do know that if somethings up with the engine that you have to deal with it right way, right?! like if the engine's in trouble the car's not gonna go.

it made me start to think about my heart and how that's the engine in me. If my heart [in regard to my emotions & spiritual life] is out of whack then I've gotta get it checked out. I think a lot of us [me included] run our engines hard until an 'oil change' where we find out that there's a lot of BIG things that need to be fixed. An 'oil change' being a fight in an important relationship in our life, a trial such as a sickness or financial struggle, or fill in the blank with a crisis. But, if I've learned anything in my walk with Christ... he wants us to meet daily with him.

his Word gives us strength and truth so that our hearts can stay in right relationship to him. when i'm just going to church on a weekly basis and not filling my week with him or people who are encouraging me to live for him i get to church the next week and i feel as if the warning lights in my car are flashing... empty!!! check me out!!! get me fixed!!! but, when I remain steadfast in his Word and learning from it and the people around me during the week... I come ready and excited to worship Him in Spirit and Truth and to learn more from his Word. So that when the trials do come... because I know they will... that my faith, and joy and strength can be fully rooted in Him and so I'm not a basket case when it comes... i'm trusting in him.

that's how we feel with our car dealership... when i told Luke we needed these things fixed and to have my car in the shop for a few days, he replied, "They know what they're doing, I trust them, get what they say needs to be fixed." That's how we should feel about the Lord. He knows our hearts best of all, he knows what we need, he knows our deepest struggles and he knows what's trial is coming next. I encourage you to get in the Word today, get your daily oil change so that you're not running on empty until next week's message at church. Trust me, God can fill you up to the brim.

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Trusting Him who is faithful,
kg:)

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