Last week on my way home from Belleville, KS I had a blowout on our Excursion. If you have ever experienced a blowout, you know how scary and dangerous of a thing it is.
I truly felt that God wanted me to give this message on surviving a blowout after I read of another blow out that occurred less than 24 hours of my blowout in Wichita. You’ll understand why after you I read to you the news report.
WICHITA, Kan. -- Two people, including a four-year-old boy, were hurt in a rollover crash Sunday morning on the Kansas Turnpike. It happened just before 11:00 near the I-135 interchange in south Wichita. The Kansas Highway Patrol confirmed Sunday that the Ford Excursion was heading north when it blew a tire. The driver overcorrected and rolled the SUV. Draven Harris, 4, of Houston, TX, was ejected from the SUV. Troopers say he was not wearing a seatbelt. Harris was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
A 52-year-old passenger was also hospitalized. The woman driving was not hurt.
One of the northbound lanes of I-35 was shut down for about an hour.
God really spoke to me on this. The coincidences were just too much for me to ignore and this made me realize how very bless that Hazen and I are that our blowout wasn’t more severe than it was.
- Let me share with you this morning some steps about how to survive a blowout and how they can relate to us spiritually speak as well.
The first step to successfully driving with a blown tire is to realize you can survive the situation and drive your car to safety. A calm and clear head will ensure you and your car survive without becoming a traffic statistic. Do not panic and your chances of surviving the situation without mishap greatly improve.
-First of all, I believe that when a blowout occurs, you must be able to,…….
I. Recognize the problem.
A. A loud unusual sound followed by the car losing stability is a sign a tire has blown. Often drivers don’t hear anything unusual because of interior noise. If you experience difficulty controlling your car, or the car no longer drives smoothly, your tire may have blown. Decrease the noise in the car and listen for unusual sounds to confirm a problem exists.
1. I believe one of the problems that keeps us from realizing that we are headed for destruction is simply because we are too engaged in the sinful things of life and it drowns the whispers of God out of our lives.
2. Many people continue going in the same destructive direction within our lives and don’t even know that there is a problem. The real problem is that we are not paying attention and we just continue driving our lives down the HWY.
3. We must be alert; we must pay attention to many things in life. When driving we must pay attention to what we are doing and what is going on around us or else we’ll get a ticket, get in a wreck, or even miss our turn. We need to pay attention to our gages or we’ll run out of gas, oil, or could even over heat.
4. Spiritually speaking we too can get in serious trouble if we do not pay attention.
1 Peter 5:8 tells us to Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
We must always pay attention to what we’re doing. We need to realize that we are not alone in this world, that Satan is sitting back waiting for us to lose our focus.
Many times in life we find ourselves in situations that could be devastating depending on how we react to them.
- When you experience a blowout, one of the biggest things to remember is,…
II. Don’t make a sharp turn.
A. Drive your vehicle gradually toward the nearest exit or the side of the road. Don’t abruptly break your vehicle, make sharp turns or attempt to cut sharply into traffic. Work your way slowly to an exit or the side of the freeway.
1. I wonder how many times in life we choose poorly and react out of panic or don’t react at all because we simply are not paying attention to what is going on around us.
2. How many times in your life have you found yourself in a bad situation simply because of one wrong choice in which you were not thinking clearly? Making one wrong choice in life can be devastating like a domino effect.
3. It could be something small that we don’t even think much of at the time but can turn into something huge that can ultimately tear apart our lives and those around us.
4. White lies can darken our lives through time; un-forgiveness can lead to broken marriages and a moment of personal pleasure can create a world of despair.
5. Too many times in our lives, we react poorly, and make wrong quick decisions because our focus wasn’t on God. We need to remember to stay calm and press on with God in the driver’s seat of our lives.
B. Since the fall of man, we’ve been in a power struggle with God over control. We surrender to God’s will, but when His reality interferes with our daily lives, we jump right back in the driver’s seat.
1. To illustrate this better, I am going to share a video that I have shared in the past entitled, “The Stool”
VIDEO: “The Stool”
2. Isn’t this how things go? We think we have the control; we love to be in control of our own lives. We think we have it all figured out in life and when we are faced with a blowout in life, we want to handle it on our terms and fail because we act too quickly and react without God.
3. When you have a blowout, we need to tap our breaks to reduce speed and slowly come to a complete stop. You want to slowly operate your car to avoid an accident, so slowly reduce your speed and move to a safe location.
4. This is how we are to react spiritually speaking as well. Just chill out, breath and stay calm. Have faith that whatever tragedy you are faced with in life, that God is right there with you and He will get you through the devastation. He is in the driver’s seat and He is in control, don’t freak out, God has your back.
5. Another point I want to share with you about how to survive a blowout is to,….
III. Turn on your hazards.
A. Stop your car on the side of the freeway or pull into the nearest parking lot if you are on a surface street. Turn on your hazard lights. If possible place a hazard sign or flare behind your stopped vehicle.
Psalm 107: 27-28 …they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
1. In life when we are faced with tragedy, when are at our wits’ end; we need to seek help. We need to understand that we are not alone and there is nothing to be embarrassed about. We need to cry out to when we find ourselves on the side of the road. If we don’t, we may just find ourselves dead on the side of the road as life passes us by.
2. No one is perfect and if you try to live life without asking for help you’re in trouble. Christians must ask God for help daily because we won’t get far in life trying to live off of our own strength. God is the one who guides us in the right path.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
3. We must never be afraid also to get wise counsel and help for big decisions from others. Remember two is always better than one. Asking for help doesn’t mean you’re weak, but it means you are strong and wise.
4. Being proud is a sin and is why many people fail to ask for help even when they desperately need it. Put your full trust in the Lord and continually ask for help and strength daily realizing it’s impossible to live a good Christian life without Him.
B. I also believe that it is important to ask for help from God’s people as well.
Proverbs 11:14 For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.
1. God will lead others to you in your time of need that He will share His love and guidance, ultimately giving him the glory as you are led in His ways.
Illustration: A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, "Grab my hand and I will pull you up!" But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
2. I believe God sends help and guidance to us all the time but sometimes we are so blind to realize it. I can’t tell you how many times in my own life when I refused the help of others because of pride or not wanting to be a nuisance to others. Just think of all those times where you denied a helpful hand and all the blessings that went to the waist side because we denied others assistance.
3. Just like when you have a blowout, we need to turn on our hazards and let God and others know that we need some assistance and we need to be ready to receive what or who He sends to us as a result.
- And lastly, if we find ourselves on the side of the road with a blowout; we need to,…..
IV. Search our manual.
A. The car instruction manual has instructions on how to replace a tire. This is a good idea if you aren’t confident in your ability to change a tire.
1. And this is also true for us as well when we have to make any repairs in our lives that has us stuck on the side of the road in life.
2. The Bible is our owner’s manual for our lives. It has all the instruction we need in life as it is straight from the creator.
Timothy 3:16 (New Living Translation). All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong with our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. I think that passage speaks for itself.
3. Whenever you buy an appliance you usually receive a manual that gives instructions on how to properly operate it. Usually it reads:
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION. READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING.
Illustration: How many of you have really read the manual on your vehicle before you drove it? I haven’t. I only refer to it when something goes wrong, or when there is a function I am not familiar with. Most of us treat our Bibles in the same way. We turn to it and God (or some other source) only when we encounter major problems in our lives, when we should have consulted God first.
Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
4. God's word gives us food for our souls, for our spiritual life. If we do not feed our spiritual life we will not be able to cope with all of life's demands and problems. We will always have situations to deal with, it is how we handle them that matters.
5. Did you know the best way to prevent blown tires is to check your tire pressure on a regular basis?
6. When we experience the pressures of life, we need to regulate our stress levels and not allow all of the pressure to build up. Going to our Owner’s Manual, (The Bible) will help the pressures that we face daily and keep us running more smoothly through life’s rocky roads.
7. If we look at the Bible as our Instruction Manual, we can save ourselves a lot of time and money for some of the problems we cause in our lives. And God is more than willing to 'service' us when we have a malfunction, by forgiving us and blessing us when we do right.
Conclusion: I would love to tell each of you today that life is full of smooth driving with no blowouts or malfunctions but that would be a false statement on my part. The truth is that life is full of rocky roads, roads full of danger and sharp turns that are designed to take your eyes off of God. Satan is very real and is out to cause wrecks, distractions, and even pile-ups. As God’s children we desperately need to keep our focus and eyes on Him, allowing Him to guide and direct us in times of blowouts and even in the good times. Just imagine how much sweeter our lives could be if only we placed more faith and trust in Jesus than ourselves or the world.
