It’s so weird how, sometimes, God speaks to you at the MOST random times!
I love driving my husbands car. You see, I had a Town and Country minivan when my kids were younger. It had ALL the bells and whistles. I had always wanted a Jeep Grand Cherokee so, when the kids got a little older, I begged and convinced my husband to let me get one! The problem was, I was WAY upside down on the trade-in. Nevertheless, I wanted it! So I downgraded to almost the complete base model just so I could afford it!
My husband recently got a new Honda Accord with ALL THEM WHISTLES! It’s NICE! I still love my Jeep, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I want to be “fancy like” and drive his car! And he just happens to be kind enough to let me do so. Well, this car…let’s just call her “Betty”, concealing her true identity for her safety :). This car is Sen-Si-TIVE! It constantly thinks I’m trying to cross my lane! I’ll be honest and say probably 80% of the time, she’s right. But still, that 20% of the time I’M RIGHT! 🙂
When I begin to cross a lane, the sensor causes some resistance in the steering wheel.
You can overpower it, but it’s definitely noticeable. The Spirit kind of came over me the other day when the “lane departure” warning popped up and it reminded me of our Christian walks. All of our walks. Now, I understand, I have never been in your shoes, just as you’ve never been in mine. But I guarantee, all of us have lane departure warnings that sometimes we ignore, sometimes we are mindful of, and sometimes we just don’t understand.
God guides us on the right path, His lane, but we control the steering wheel AKA free will. When we are driving in the direction He has for us, there is no spiritual resistance. That doesn’t mean we don’t face trials and have issues that we have to work out. That doesn’t mean there won’t be obstacles we have to swerve to avoid at times. But we don’t won’t feel that tug, we won’t hear God saying we are doing it wrong. If anything, we could be correcting the person headed straight towards us, crossing their own lines. Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”.
God can do great things when you stay in your lane! However, when we start to veer off just a little, God nudges us with His Spirit. If you are a born again Christian, this 100% happens. The bible tells us this in Proverbs 3:6 , “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.“
Get off the couch! Turn Law & Order – SVU off and spend time with your kids like God’s telling you to do! Stop resisting! (ah-hem…RACHAEL)
Get out of that relationship…don’t give him another chance just because he “looooovvess” you. Stop resisting where God is leading you.
Get out of the bottom of the bottle. You don’t have to stay inebriated just to not feel the pain of your past. Psalm 35:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whos spirts are crushed”. Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past”. 2 Cor 5:17 “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”. I could go on and on and on… He promises these things to you!
What happens is he gives you that “lane departure” warning. It’s up to you to go against the resistance or to get back in line. James 4:7, “…resist the devil and he will flee from you”.
I‘ll tell you…all week I have been feeling like I’m forgetting something. Does that ever happen to you? You know you aren’t, but you can’t shake the feeling. It’s like straddling the resistance, stuck in lane departure, not being able to straighten back up. So much life happens that sometimes I feel like I’m just straddling…. getting in the word is the best cure! It’s the best “nudge” back over into your lane! HIS lane!
If you go against the resistance, what happens? You wind up in the wrong lane. Should you stay in the wrong lane long enough, you will crash. After a while, you won’t feel the resistance anymore.
There will be too much space…to much CRAP in your way to feel God trying to bring you back on the straight and narrow. You can still get back in line, but it may take a near rock bottom moment to get you back…a crash, a tree, a ditch. Use your imagination here. Try to understand the analogy.
I tested the car a bit. I tried to see how long it would keep the departure warning up if I stayed straight in the middle of the line. What I felt was a little resistance BOTH ways! A little pull to the right, a little pull to the left…
Much like the enemy trying to pull you to the other side but the spirit in you starts fighting and resisting and turning from what the enemy is trying to get you to do. Where do you go? Do you forget which direction is God and which is evil? My pastor once explained, discerning the voice of God goes like this…“If it is helping someone, it’s God talking to you. The enemy will never tell you to help someone.” – Kevin Wheeler
What are you going to do? Where are you? Are you in the right lane. Are you straddling the middle? Are you completely on the other side, about to get hit, head on, not being able to feel God trying to pull you back because of all of the space and CRAP you’ve allowed to get in between you and the life God wants you to live?
Don’t get yourself in the wrong lane. So far that you no longer feel the warnings. That’s where devastation lives.
Think about all of the areas of your life that could be pulling you in different directions. Analyze the distractions and ask God to speak to you about it. Then…LISTEN! Hush…and LISTEN! There’s not point in asking God to speak to you if you aren’t going to listen when He does…and He WILL!
Much love!
RR