We’ve all had times where we’ve been driving down the road and all of a sudden we have that one light that comes on and we usually respond by saying something like “Dang now I’ve got to get that fixed!” unless you’re like this one guy I met once and when I asked him what he did when his light comes on his reply was, “I get a piece of tape and put it over the light so I can’t see it anymore.” First of all that won’t solve anything!
Chances are when it first comes on you feel like you got hit in the gut or your day has just been spoiled. What if the engine light was actually what saves your cars life? What if you didn’t have that engine light to tell you when something was wrong?
How God Acts As An Engine Light To Us
The same way our cars have the engine light to warn us that something is going wrong under the hood is the same thing that God does to us when something is going wrong in our hearts.
Often when we’ve made a bad choice or a series of bad choices we’ll feel a nudge or something similar on the inside and we know that we know that what we did was not right. That nudge or feeling is God correcting us.
“For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:12)
God doesn’t correct us out of hate and God does not look down and say “I’m very disappointed and I’ll stop loving them if they don’t quit” that is not how it is at all. God corrects those that he loves. The scary part is not the nudge you get but if you don’t get a nudge or anything at all!
God Knows Us For Who We Are
The reason a bolt of lightning doesn’t strike as soon as we make a bad choice is not because it’s ok but because God knew every stupid, foolish sinful thing we would ever do and he still chose to create us. He knows us better than anyone else and a love like that goes beyond a bad choice.
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me” (John 10:4)
The book of John tells us that Jesus knows his own and that his own know him. If this is true it would only be loving by God to correct us. Just like a loving father corrects their child. When a child throws their food on the floor the parent doesn’t just say “Who cares” and hopes they quit! Chances are if that’s the approach the child will be throwing their food on the floor at age 45!
The loving thing to do is to step in and correct so that we can get better. That’s all God wants is for us to be the absolute best us that we can be.
Know that inside God you are loved for who you are. Your position as a son or daughter is the reason God loves you so much. Next time you feel those nudges or God’s whisper try your best to obey it and make the right decision when faced with the same choice the next go around.
Reflect:
- In what way is God trying to correct you?
- What next step could you take to not give in to the same thing again?
Bryant Westbrook 