4 Tips for Dealing with Spiritual Potholes
When I was younger my dad and I were out running errands when he took a shortcut on a dirt road. As Dad wove our station wagon left and right I remarked that there were sure a lot of potholes. Without taking his eyes off the road he said, “Yeah, I’m trying but I can’t hit all of them!”
Life has lots of potholes, literal ones and spiritual ones. Sometime they’re small, just a minor nuisance. Others can do significant damage if you run into them.
What’s a spiritual pothole? It’s anything that disrupts your spiritual journey with God. It can be a trial such as getting sick, dealing with unpleasant people or any of the normal pressures of life. It can also be an attack from one of our three enemies, the world, the flesh or Satan. Here are four things you can do to prepare for them.
4 Tips For Watching out for Spiritual Potholes
- Be right with God. We’re right with God when our inner life is characterized by the qualities produced by the Spirit of God Galatians 5:22-23. Peace and joy are great barometers of how we’re doing spiritually. When we have peace we notice when something interferes with it. You won’t notice spiritual potholes if your heart is in turmoil.If you don’t have peace right now set aside some time and pray until you get it. Philippians 4:6-7. It may take a while but it’s worth it.
- Be spiritually alert. 1 Corinthians 16:13 Life can get so busy we inadvertently stop thinking about life as a child of God. If we’re distracted we will hit some spiritual potholes. Develop the habit of regularly checking to keep your mind free from evil thoughts and desires and to reflectively think about every aspect of life from God’s perspective. Colossians 3:1-2
- Learn to discern. Hebrews 5:14 Some spiritual potholes are there because God wants to point you in a different direction. If we don’t understand that and try to plow ahead we’ll end up with some serious spiritual damage to our hearts. Hebrews 12:6 Some spiritual potholes are attacks by our three enemies and we need to respond to those quickly. The key difference is the evil intent at the heart of the enemies’ attacks. It takes time to learn to discern but it’s a skill we must have.
- Don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 There are days when I feel like I could take on hell with a squirt gun and other days when I’m running on empty. We run into spiritual potholes every day. We have to begin each day determined to continue the journey God has for us. It may be an easy day or it may be the worst day of your life. But God is with you and will see you through. Hebrews 13:6
God intends for your Christian life to be an abundant life John 10:10. We will hit spiritual potholes, but if we are prepared they won’t sidetrack our faith.
Has something ever sidetracked your faith? How did you get back on track? Please leave a comment or question below.
