Friday morning I woke up to an illuminated tire pressure light that led me to notice a tire that had lost a significant amount of air overnight. Not to mention only three weeks prior, I had paid to have all four tires replaced as well as the tire pressure sensors which had gone bad. After three weeks of not having the permanent fixture of fake warning of my failed sensors on the dashboard, I noticed the light had returned and I immediately felt the inconvenience of this circumstance close in on me. All the plans I had for that day were gone in the few seconds of realizing I would be without a car. I wasn’t going to be able to attend my weekly Bible study group, get groceries, run any errands to “get ahead” ahead, or even pick the kids up from school. I was quite literally stuck. 

Isn’t that how life works? Like a series of dominoes, one little thing can influence many other things. One little difficulty can complicate a host of pre planned activities. On a deeper level, one “little” sin, left unchecked, can lead to more dangerous sins with grave consequences. It would have been so easy for me to allow the irritation of inconvenience to burn so deeply that the rest of my day would be sown in bitterness. In fact, the enemy would have delighted in that. He would have loved for me to cast blame where it wasn’t due. But he didn’t expect me to miss my Bible study and instead study my Bible at the auto shop. He didn’t expect me to call a dear friend and ask for help, and he definitely didn’t expect me to take advantage of being home to write these very words. Living in this fallen world, full of inconveniences and trials, should drive us to redirect our thoughts and cast our worries on the only one who can renew them. 

I later found out that there was a screw stuck in one of my tires. One teeny, tiny little piece of man-made metal could have changed the trajectory of my day for the worse. Life is messy, but God is not.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith…” 1 Peter 5:6-9a