Chinks! — Part II

In Chinks–Part I we talked about a chink in my driveway that caused us major problems, disrupted our cable TV, phone and Internet service, and tore up our driveway and front yard for weeks. Let’s look at some things in our lives that cause chinks.

If you’re breathing as you read this, you are vulnerable to chinks. The Bible says they will occur. Psalm 34:19 tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “These things (His teachings) I have told you so that in me you have peace. IN THE WORLD YOU HAVE TRIBULATION; but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Like death and taxes (pardon the cliché)–tribulations will come.

Can you prevent tribulation and trials? No. Chinks always show up, usually at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in the wrong way. I have watched many people exert boatloads of effort to prevent the chinks, usually by attempting to control other people or circumstances. That’s wasted effort. Then when the trials come and the chinks appear, those folks add guilt, shame and self loathing to their repertoire of emotions because they can’t prevent the trials or fix the chinks. It just makes going through the trials worse. Then those folks have to deal with the trials as well as all the repercussions and negative emotions from their efforts to control.

We might as well resign ourselves to expect the chinks, most of which we cause ourselves. The list of causes is interminable, but a few are more common than others.

We watch chinks appear in our lives when: we put our own interests above those of others – chink!; when we try to control others – chink!; when we refuse to forgive someone (anyone) who hurts us or does wrong by us – chink!, chink!, chink!; when we take pride in our accomplishments and pat ourselves on the back – chink!; when we worry – chink!; when we fear – chink!; when we face trials thinking we can figure some way to fix them ourselves – chink!; when we wish we had more stuff – chink!; when we throw a pity party – chink!; when our focus turns inward (on ourselves – chink!) or outward (on the world – chink!) instead of upwards (on God); when we do things to please others and not God – chink!; when we purposefully live outside God’s will – chink!; when we think we don’t need God to lead and guide us in every area of our lives – chink!

Can you testify? Can I get a witness? Do any of these chinks sound familiar? If you answered, “No” to those questions, brace yourself. Your turn is on its way.

If you know what I’m talking about you can relax. We have the best Protection System on earth. We have a Savior who can fix any chink. Can He prevent the chinks from appearing? He could if He wanted to but He allows many of our chinks so we will surrender our lives to Him, obey Him and allow Him to live His life through us.

In Chinks — Part III we’ll explore ways we can insure our Protection System is in place and in good working order.

Do you have any chinks in your protective system? Are you dealing with stuff in your life you don’t know how to fix? If so, I know a permanent fix — a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know Him today? Would you like to fix vulnerable areas in your life? Would you like to prevent more vulnerabilities in your life from destroying you? Follow this link to discover the fixing power of Jesus Christ and embrace your new protective system that has no chinks.

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Link to Chinks – Part I (in case you missed it)