Spiritual Stability System

But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father

will send the Spirit to take my place.

The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what

I said when I was with you. John 14:26 CEV

For 3 weeks, every time I turned the key in the ignition, the dashboard on my van flashed the same warning; Service Stability System!

For 3 weeks, I ignored the warning with hopes that it would just go away. There were no obvious signs of problems. My van appeared to be working fine. It continued to get to me to and from where I needed to go. Besides, between swim meets, spring hockey, music lessons, and well, just life, my family's calendar was so jam packed that the thought of having to actually stop, make an appointment, take my van in, wait and then pay for it to be fixed made me feel even more stressed. I didn't think I had time for that so I decided to continue doing the denial thing as long as I could keep getting away with it.

Let me tell you, this was not a smart thing to do.

A few days ago when my van started to make a sound that even I knew meant serious trouble, I decided that I finally needed to do the responsible thing here; make an appointment and deal with the problem.

The mechanic who greeted me after working on my van for the better part of the next day, could not conceal his surprise.

"Mam, I honestly don't know how you were able to keep driving."

He then went on to explain that my van had numerous problems; the stability system was just one. And because I had let it go so long, what had started as a fairly simple issue was now a full blown engine mess. No doubt about it, by my choosing to ignore the warning light, a lot of collateral damage to my van's transmission had ensued.

Paying the hefty bill was painful. But weighing equally as heavy on my heart was the fact that a lot of the damage and expense could have been avoided if I had dealt with the problem right away.

And so it is with life.

The more I try to ignore the problems, issues and obstacles in my life, the more they tend to stick around. Or worse.

Thankfully God has blessed each of His children with the gift of the Holy Spirit- our very own "Spiritual Stability System" if you'll allow me to call it that!

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit has been given to us a teacher, comforter, guide and friend; as one who helps us navigate our way through this life and can keep us spiritually stable and on track with God.

Lately, I've been sensing a "warning". What started as a feeling has become a strong conviction that I need to get deeper into God's word. I need to spend more than just my daily quiet time and the few minutes reading Bible Devotions with the kids before tucking them into bed for the night. I've been sensing the Holy Spirit encouraging me to really sink into God's word; to meditate on it, to not hurry through these precious times- but to stay longer and to soak in more.

God promises to be our rock, our source of strength and stability if we turn to Him daily for wisdom, blessing and encouragement. And when our hearts and minds are securely anchored in God's truth, the problems, issues and obstacles we are guaranteed to face in this life, are less likely to rock our world.

Life is so busy, but I don't ever want the things I do to take away from the time I spend with Jesus. So, I'm going to look at my calendar and plan how I can carve out some more time each day to spend with Him. I want to make this a priority now before I get to a point where I wish I had.

*What about you?
*Any "warning lights" going off in your life lately?
*What has the Holy Spirit been stirring in your soul?

Leave me a comment. I'd love to know how I can be praying for you!
~ Kimberley

Today I am participating in Rachel Olsen's Devotional Carnival- check it out. Read other's thoughts on the subject of stability and be encouraged at rachelolsen.blogspot.com