This morning pulling out of my driveway on the way to work some recent occurences caused me some deep thought. I've been having occurence after occurence of problems with light going out. For months I'd been driving around not being able to see my gear-shift at night or in a dark location (garage, etc.) unless I turned on some interior light first. I don't know why I didn't get it checked sooner, I guess my schedule got in the way on the weekends or in the back of my mind I feared it would be some electrical problem that I didn't want to have to deal with financially. Prior to this gear-shift lighting situation I had the light bulb in my garage that automatically comes on when the garage door raises go out. It was out for a little over a year up until a month ago. I guess I didn't want to deal with that because it meant finding someone to change the bulb that high up...at least I thought. Not a big deal; I could still turn on the other light in the ceiling if I needed light or turn on the light in my car when I'm in the garage if I needed it. I know...crazy right? Well I finally realized I could have changed that bulb long ago only after the light "outside" of my garage at the entrance went out. I couldn't have it that dark driving up at night so I decided to get my step ladder, I thought just maybe I could reach it. And yes...I could! Also, at this time I realized the light outside the garage was just about at the same height as the one inside. Yep...you guessed it so I changed the bulb. Getting back to the gear-shift situation...I got that taken care of this past weekend along with my rear left light signal that went out while I was on my way to work just a few days ago! So, this morning I was just thinking, 'why did I procrastinate on doing what I needed to do to have the light I needed in my car and in my garage?? Why was I so unwilling just to get these things taken care of instead of allowing dread to control the situation or using work-arounds? A lot of extra energy and inconviencing I caused myself...don't you think?
In a similar way many people "stay in the dark" regarding either God's promises to them or instructions for living. They'd rather make adjustments for the light (God's truth) rather than do what it takes to walk and live in complete peace. They make other people's mess-ups or ignorance their excuse for not doing what they've been called by God to do. It takes a whole lot more energy to commit to doing a bunch of charity work or things we think will get us God's favor than just doing the thing or things we know to do. When it comes to real light (God's truth) there really is no subsitute...nothing comes close. There is always some cost.
