There is a new kind of tire that brags that it can run over
a nail and keep going. In fact, the tire
is supposed to stay inflated for fifty miles at speeds of up to fifty miles an
hour! It doesn’t mean that you won’t get
a flat... it’s just delays your flat until you can get to a service station.
It puts off the inevitable stop you’ll have to make. Delays the results of an unfortunate occurrence.
As I thought about this, I wonder how many of us live our
lives that way? We make an error of judgment...
or a terrible mistake... and we don’t pay for it right away. We live impervious to the consequences and
continue to just keep driving. It doesn’t
mean that we won’t eventually have to fix it... but as long as it keeps looking
like we’re ok... we keep on going in hopes that it will just disappear.
Just because it doesn’t happen right away doesn’t mean it
won’t. Sometimes the flat comes much
later in the form of regret. Sometimes
it’s shame... or pain... or heartbreak.
I didn’t mean to say that to them... how come they won’t
talk to me anymore?
I didn’t know that what I was doing would hurt them so
badly.
I didn’t realize that one decision could derail God’s plan
for my life.
Thump... thump... thump...
the sound of a flat.
Current bad decisions lead to eventual life flats... even if
those consequences don’t come immediately.
We have to be intentional with every decision we make. What we think leads to what we do and that
leads to the results that we achieve.
Find yourself picking up a lot of nails? Check yourself. Are you saying things that honor God? Putting yourself around people with your same
Christ-like beliefs? Encouraging
others? Refusing to gossip? If not, make the decision today to drive on
smoother roads. All of us are going to
make mistakes from time to time and all of us will face the results of those
choices. But if we do our best to avoid
the hazards, we minimize our chances of blowouts and stress.
Find yourself with a nail in your tire? Pull off now and repair it. Mend the relationships that have been
damaged. Apologize. Seek forgiveness from those you’ve hurt. Patches may not be easy but they will get you
back on the road to your destiny.
Don’t wait for your life to go flat before doing something
about this. I’ll be praying for you on your
journey.
