You Better Check Yourself before you Wreck Yourself

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?" II Corinthians 13:5

I recently attended several days of meetings in Florida to represent my company at a convention with thousands of people. During this time, I would meet several high management level business associates for my work. My boss rarely sends me on such business trips, so I felt it was important to make a good first impression on behalf of my company. Due to the 3 hour time change between California and Florida, it was a little hard the first night to go to sleep at a reasonable time, so because of that, I found myself oversleeping on the next morning, suddenly jumping out of bed and having to rush around my hotel room getting ready for the breakfast gathering of the executives. I hurriedly dug through my suitcase, threw on my business attire, then had to frantically search for all my additional preparatory items, and amazingly got ready in 10 minutes… All the while, I had the opportunity to pass by a large full length mirror in my bathroom and glance to see if everything was looking “presentable”, but time ran short, and now in retrospect I realize that I failed to make one last pass by that mirror…. (Some of you can already imagine what I am about to tell you, right?)

Down the hotel hallway I ran, briefcase in hand, happily greeting the hotel housekeeping staff, my fancy name badge securely clipped to my lapel… boy, I was ready to face the WORLD!!!(or so I foolishly thought) I jumped in the large glass elevator which rapidly descended to the lobby from my 20th floor. (Important to note here: most of the elevator had glass walls that allowed the entire audience of the Marriott World Center lobby to see riders as they descend down.) As I stood with my back to the lobby, looking at the reducing numbers over the elevator door, I had a small twinge pass through my mind that perhaps I should check just one more time in the full length mirrors of the elevator doors in front of me to be sure I was ready to be presented to the world. At about the 5th floor, I slowly turned around only to discover at my horror that the back side of my skirt was completely stuck up in my pantyhose and my suit jacket was inside out! Panic ensued as I frantically scrambled to make these final adjustments, only barely completed as I “calmly” exited the elevator in front of a large group of Vice Presidents and CFO’s who greeted me with a smile and welcome, but only after I had traveled several floors in an “exposed stance” to everyone else in the lobby! Could you imagine what would have happened if I had not taken one last look in the elevator???

How this embarrassing situation is like our spiritual walks at times, my dear friends! God sends us many “Mirrors” to keep an eye on our lives and to assure we are in His Will in ALL areas of our lives. He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to be that still small Voice that calls us to repentance, to accountability, to the right choices in our lives. He sent His Son to be the example to us of how to live and serve and maintain a humble and loving heart to others. He sends us Spiritual leaders to guide our learning and hold us accountable when we stumble or become vulnerable in our walk. God sent His Amazing Word, the Bible, for us to use as a Spiritual Mirror to look at on a regular basis to be sure our back side isn’t exposed, or our spiritual clothes are not improperly put on. If we fail to check ourselves, we will inevitably wreck ourselves when the enemy takes easy advantage of our ignorance or foolish haste or bliss, or when we get in a hurry and miss taking the time to do things according to His Will for our lives. Even when we realize we have missed the mark(as I did in the elevator), we can still get back on track and make those needed adjustments to our “attire” in Christ, but to avoid this unnecessary and often painfully embarrassing scenario both in our physical and spiritual lives, I HIGHLY recommend that all of us CHECK OURSELVES daily, find ourselves in prayer and in His Word Daily to avoid foolishly making mistakes that can harm us or others in our lives.

Your momentarily embarrassed but ever-learning sister in Christ,
Lahoma

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