Warning Signs

Heather will be getting her permit soon. So I decided that until she gets it, I would go ahead and start teaching her some things. I chose to start with the street signs and what they all mean. On the way to church, there is a really curvy road. Each time I drive down that road I end up having to run both stop signs because I always forget they are there. One morning I was thinking about that road because I knew I would be driving it later that day and I started thinking about road signs and how there should be some kind of warning sign that a stop sign was approaching on that road. 


So I am with Heather and I'm telling her about this. Well, lo and behold, as we near the first stop sign there IS a warning sign that a stop sign was coming up. And then there was also one for the second stop sign as well!! As I started pointing out different signs, I realized that over half of these signs I had never even seen after driving these same roads for 2 months! I started to explain to her that since I am an experienced driver, I just know the roads and I guess I just ignored the signs. It is just something I didn't pay attention to. She however was noticing all the signs and asking lots of questions.


I thought to myself that this is how we are as mature Christians. We go to church, we have our quite time, we live in community with others, we pray, so we're good right? Not so much. Not all the time anyway. I look back in my life over the last couple of years and if I take a really good look, I see SO many warning signs that I totally ignored. I see so many areas of compromise. And it doesn't matter if it is the wife or the husband, if one compromises it affects the entire family. I think compromise is such a lure of the enemy. It always starts out small. For example, viewing movies that you probably shouldn't watch but it only has that one tiny scene in it that is really bad so what is the harm, right?


You start listening to music and as you really listen and discover what the lyrics are you realize that it is definitely NOT a good message to be focusing on but hey, you love the song and the beat. It really can't be that big of a deal...it is only a song. Next thing you know, you are making bigger and bigger compromises that end up destroying you and those you love. 


Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I would be in the line to pick up Heather from school and I would be so tired and so sleepy that I would fall asleep and she would come to the car just not believing that I was asleep. Some days, I would be like this throughout the day but it didn't happen every day. Since having the cancer removed, I have not had one day like that. That is truly the only "sign" that I had. But maybe it was a warning sign. Maybe I should have realized that something didn't seem right and went to have it checked out. It all worked out in the end and I know God led me to do my own self-exam and here I am today but I just really wonder how many warning signs in our lives that we miss each and every single day. 


I think we should pay a lot more attention to these warning signs. I truly feel that the warning signs are God speaking directly into our lives. I think that these warning signs are to let us know that something is approaching. God, speaking to us directly what we should be praying about. Let's ask God when we think we might be seeing one of those signs and ask him what he is trying to show us. Let's not compromise by just overlooking these signs. Because overlooking the small signs only lead to MAJOR, MAJOR problems in your future. If you see a sign, start to pray with all your heart about it. Whatever you do, don't ignore it!!