“Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2a (CSB)
First you don’t…and then you do. It is funny how different things can cause us to see, well, different things. So, after church one Wednesday night, when I got home my wife Judy and I sat down to finish watching some random feel-good movie I had started. As I sat there, I realized that the room seemed warm. So, after a few minutes, I got up and checked and sure enough. It wasn’t my imagination…the room really was warm. Well, in this case it wasn’t a matter of adjusting the thermostat…it meant that our downstairs air conditioning unit was NOT working.
I checked a couple of things but all to no avail. So, I decided I would call the air conditioning fix-it guys in the morning and off we went to bed. Now for the good news. We have a separate unit for the upstairs and gratefully it was working fine. Thank you, Lord. So, we slept well, and I got up the next morning, had a couple of cups of coffee and some Jesus time and then a little later called the fix-it guys. Turns out they could come first thing in that morning (God wink) and at 8:30 am they were here. The compressor was bad so that meant a major repair—but maybe more on that later. But it also meant no quick fix. Parts had to be ordered and work done—but more on that too.
But even though it was a hot day, the house stayed reasonably cool…oh, 83 degrees…warm but tolerable. So, later that night I went upstairs to get ready for bed…again grateful for the upstairs unit working so very well. After a while, I realized I had to go back downstairs (forgot to take the night meds) and when I got downstairs it seemed almost unbearably warm. Had it gotten warmer? What was the deal? Well, the answer is simply profound.
You see, when I lived in the warmer climate downstairs, I grew used to the warmer temperature. But only a few minutes of the cooler upstairs bliss caused me to realize just how warm the warm was and just how cool the cool was. I guess I’m trying to say we seem to get used to what we live in. Wait…that’s important. Whatever we allow or tolerate, can quickly become at least somewhat tolerable or acceptable in our lives.
Of course, that can be good…there’s a lot to be said for learning to be content but if that something is something that is not good…that is dangerous. You know, some habit, some circumstance, some environment is allowed to be a part of our lives and soon, too soon, we become comfortable with what used to make us uncomfortable. I wonder how much in this changing culture have we become comfortable with—ok with? That is a good question.
The solution to this is the same solution as air conditioning. Spend some time in the cool and you will always be able to feel and know how warm the room is. It will rarely become “comfortable.” We need to spend time with God every day, time in prayer and time in His Book, and that will help us keep our spiritual sensitivity. One of my favorite go-to verses is Romans 12:2 where it warns us not to allow the world to pressure us…to be too comfortable with what should be uncomfortable. It goes on to say we should allow the Word from the God Book to transform us…to help us keep our spiritual equilibrium…or spiritual sensitivity.
Well, hopefully the air conditioning will be fixed in a couple of days but until then, well, we will keep being grateful for what is upstairs and for the lesson it is teaching us. I’m grateful God allows these things to teach us His big truths…like the one we know so well…that no matter what…He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 