System Check

I have this cute little red car that I use to drive back and forth to work. It's got over 100,000 miles on it but it's still going strong. The second best thing about this car is that it has heated seats! The best thing about this car is that every time you turn it on, it does a system check of all the safety systems. The other morning on my way to church, it did a system check and said "Front Light Failure". I knew I needed to replace my head light. I need a spiritual system check for my life to tell me what part of my life needs a little work.

There are definitely spiritual system failure signals that show in my life. I get cranky or irritable. I get judgemental or critical. The problem is I don't always pay attention to the spiritual system check signals. Instead I try to justify why I acted the way I did. That way I'm not accountable and don't have to change. Everyone else has to change instead. Blaming other people is much more fun than taking responsibility for our own feelings and actions.

Sometimes, God uses events in our lives to help us do a spiritual system check. When life squeezes us, what comes out? I want grace, compassion, mercy, and love to come out. Sometimes irritableness, impatience, or crankiness comes out instead. (I know that's hard to believe but my husband will testify to that fact :-) That's a pretty good signal I need to do a spiritual system check. We are human and we won't be perfect. Just like my car needs fuel and maintenance, so do I. I want to notice the signals God gives me and learn to pay attention when He says, "Compassion failure". Time to do some spiritual maintenance.

I'd love to hear your favorite system check signals. How does God let you know it's time for some spiritual maintenance?