October 26, 2011
Getting to the Root of the Problem
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (or woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV).
Friend to Friend
Several years ago I owned a car that continually overheated. The first time I saw the little red needle pointing to the big H on the dashboard, I assumed it meant the car was hot. It was in the middle of August and frankly, I was hot too, so I wasn’t terribly alarmed. I decided to mosey on down to the dealership about twelve miles away to have it checked out. Big mistake.
After about a minute or so, steam began billowing from under the hood, the engine began knocking angrily, and the little engine that could, decided it couldn’t any longer. It died in the middle of a busy intersection on a Friday afternoon in 5:00 traffic. The car was towed to the dealership where the mechanic delivered the unfortunate news.
“Mrs. Jaynes, you see that needle that is pointing to the ‘H’?” the repairman asked. “That means that the engine is runnin’ hot. When you see that, you’ve got to stop right away. Since you kept goin’, you burned up your engine. It’s a goner. You’ll have to get a new one.”
“That sounds expensive,” I moaned.
“Oh, it’ll be about four thousand dollars,” he answered, while continuing to poke around under the hood.
Four thousand dollars! And all because I didn’t stop the car when it overheated…all because I didn’t heed the warning signs. It was a painful and costly lesson.
The mechanic installed a new engine. You can imagine my alarm when I noticed that little red needle pointing to H a few weeks later. This time, I stopped right away. Once again, my car was towed to the dealership. Once again, they made adjustments, gave reassurances, and sent me on my way.
Over the following weeks, my car overheated three times. Each time, it was towed to the shop and the mechanic made adjustments. Finally, I said, “No more.” I got rid of the car.
The trouble was, the mechanic never fixed the cause of the problem, but only tinkered with the symptoms. He fixed first one thing and then another, but never got to the root of the problem to find out why the car was overheating in the first place.
How like us. We continue to tinker, fixing one flaw and then another, but never getting to the root of the problem. Many times when reading the Bible, we want the “how to-s” without the “why for-s.” In this age of instant messaging, instant food, and microwave cooking, we want a quick fix without understanding the deep truths of Scripture. We say, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” “Give me a ten-step program and I’ll check off the steps one by one.” But in order to experience lasting change – we must begin with ultimate truth.
When we dig deep into Scripture, we discover the root cause of our problems and God’s amazing solutions.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I have been tinkering with my problems long enough. My hot button has gone off more times than I care to admit. Would you please show me the root cause of this problem? You are the Heavenly mechanic and my engine is in need of repair. I open my hood (heart) to You and pray that you will help me run like a well-Holy Spirit - oiled machine.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
When is the last time your emotion meter hit H for Hot?
What was the problem?
Now look at your answer. Did you blame it on someone else? If so, you are tinkering, tinkering, tinkering. (I love you, girlfriend.)
Think…pray…now answer the question again. What was the problem?
More from the Girlfriends
Sharon’s book, Becoming Spiritually Beautiful, takes us back to the root cause of the problems in all of our lives and how God wants to fix it. Most of what we call problems or characters flaws are only symptoms. If you would like to get under the hood with God and take a look at what’s broken so He can fix it, then this book is for you! This book also comes with a Bible study guide that is perfect for group or individual study.
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Girlfriends in God
Matthews, NC 28106
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