How Long Have You Been Ignoring Your Check Engine Light?

Since I could drive, I have always wanted a manual transmission vehicle. Thanks to my father and brother-in-law, I am now driving a 5 speed Honda Civic! I had no idea of what needed to be done, or how to do it! They were patient with me as they explained what was wrong and what needed to be done, and how I could help.


Working on this car was tedious and the labor was spread out over two, maybe three, months of weekends finding more and more issues and things that needed to be fixed or replaced. The biggest repair was replacing the broken engine with a newer one from the junk yard. The hood was a tight fit in the first place, but moving an engine around makes it a bit smaller. We had to remove pieces in order, get things out, replaced and put it all back in again without forgetting any bolts! Fortunately the venture was completed with minimal pieces left over after an entire day of work, much Mountain Dew and 12 McDoubles.


This process reminded me of the refining process that God does on our lives. We're so incredibly complex in the way we are put together, beyond the physical construction. Many times my spiritual "check engine" light comes on and I have no idea what to do. God is so patient with me, as He, in His perfect timing, reveals to me the areas that I haven't been maintaining on a healthy basis. I can be pretty stubborn, but His patience is bigger!

Once I am willing to listen, the Holy Spirit works and helps repair the areas of my life that are rusty, in need of repair, or even completely broken!

Recently, I attended an event in the U of M Marriuci Arena called Unite. It was a night of worship and prayer held on the National Day of Prayer in partner with Pulse Campus and PraiseFM. This four hour gathering was lead almost completely by volunteers, and was a great experience. Many different campuses came together to worship our Creator through different means. Additional pictures can be seen on PraiseFM's flickr page.


As much as I enjoyed it, I had a major struggle. I was raised in a non-denom church, but it was baptist based. That being the case, the congregation remains very stationary, and a few hands might go up occasionally. The Unite gathering was quite charismatic from what I am used to. Immediately I began to grow bitter towards the things I was seeing. That's when God flipped the check engine light on! I realized that there is no one way to worship God! Even if there was, who am I to decide what that looks like? King David wasn't exactly the most reserved when worshiping the Lord!

In 2 Samuel 6, David "dances and leaps before the Lord" and is called out on his actions:

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” v20

David is not embarrassed, but explains his actions with reason:

²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Am I like Michal? Do I become bitter and spiteful when others are worshiping the Lord in a different way? I pray that God would melt my heart if I ever am.

Where in your life does the "check engine" light come on? How can you let God perform maintenance in that area?

You can ignore the indicators that are there for your benefit, but how much better could things be if you didn't?