The Small Leaks

Eph 5:17, Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19, Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20, Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

21, Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

A few months ago I was experiencing a leak in my truck’s radiator and tracked it to a small crack which I promptly fixed with JB Weld®. It worked well for a long time and then I saw a drop or two here and there. I expected that as it was in a very rough place to reach and a drop or two was fine.

Lately, we have had a few cold mornings and my good old truck was not heating up as quickly. Where I am usually near roasting a few minutes it was at best tepid until I reached my job over thirty miles away. Yet, in the afternoon it would heat up almost immediately, but true to Texas weather, I did not need it then. I assumed it was the thermostat sticking, but was told I should check the fluid level.

What a shock that was as it took nearly a half of gallon of anti-freeze to fill it back up. The next morning my heater was functioning perfectly. My drop here and there still added up to a large loss over the months. Had I not noticed the heat loss I would have gone on driving until my level got to a dangerous level and seriously damaged my truck. It is a good thing that the seasons change.

It seems to be the same in our spiritual lives. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit and the idea of being continuously filled with the Spirit indicates that in a sense we can leak. Not that He leaks out of us, but that we do not allow the control He once had over us. Often this happens like my small leak that we do not see or ignore as no major issue. When He is in our lives in full capacity we are good and warm in a cold world, but when His control is diminished we experience the coldness of the world and it cools us down.

At first, it may be a degree at a time over a long period so that we adjust and feel comfortable at a temperature that once made us reach for the control to turn up the heat or seek the Spirit's control and guidance. We ignore warning signs like the drops on the driveway equal to our missing services now and then, losing joy in our ministry though we may continue in it out of duty or habit. The pastor's sermons just aren't what they once were and we nit pick them or watch the game or play Irritated Fowls on our tablet. Fellowships are a bother and the people just aren't as close to each other as they were when we first joined. Little things that we just don't notice. Prayer is short and sweet and done mostly at the table or a last minute thing in our beds as we pass out during them. Spouses and children are a burden rather than a joy. In fact, very little is a joy and we trudge on in our rut all the while telling everyone all is well because we have adjusted to the lack of heat and accept what we have as being as good as it gets.

Then the season's change. I could have put off looking into my coolness issue because the cab did eventually warm up by the time I reached work. However, the weather is only starting to get cool. I knew it would be a tad intolerable if I waited until the middle of winter to fix it. Even so, I had the wrong idea for a fix as I thought it was the thermostat sticking halfway. My wife had her car in the shop and mentioned my issue to him and he suggested checking the fluid. I would have seen the low fluid at some point, but I was on the wrong track and would not have made the connection until after I filled the radiator. That might not have happened until I bought and replaced the thermostat causing me a needless cost for the part and a waste of time replacing it.

Seasons change in our lives as well and unless we notice the little leaks and the slight cooling we will not seek a fix in our lives until things get bitterly cold. We need not suffer that. Even if we figure we have an issue we might be very prone to surmising the wrong cause and spend needless a money and time on it. It may well take a concerned friend or a professional to evaluate and point you in the right direction.