Trouble Codes

We left Rancho Santa Margarita one week ago with great expectation about all that is going to do this summer. Our first stop was Yuma, AZ where we spent a fews days with our friends Kenny and Athena and visited the Yuma Foursquare Church where they attend. (I will share more about the church in another blog post.)

Yesterday we set out from Yuma headed for Goodyear, AZ, which should have been a 3 hour drive. That is until, about 25 miles south of Buckeye on Highway 85, the Excursion sputtered and died, leaving us on the side of the road in 100 degree weather. I carry a full compliment of tools, and have quite a bit of experience in troubleshooting and fixing vehicles, but there is only so much you can do on the side of the road...so the call to roadside assistance was made and the wait for a tow truck was on.

And now the point of this post. I always carry a DTC code scanner in my car which helps to troubleshoot problems in case of a breakdown. Modern cars have computers that control and monitor the engine functions, and if something goes wrong, the PCM (computer) records the data and issues a trouble code (and thats when the check engine light comes on). I read the trouble code immediately after we stopped on the side of the road, and then after working on the truck for a while, took another reading and found that there were additional codes that had been set off. Now that one system was not functioning it began affecting other systems which the computer then translated into trouble codes. The reality is that some of those codes are not indicative of a real problem, they are just basing their problem off of another faulty system.

This got me thinking about my walk with the Lord. It was not too long ago that this a situation like this would have caused me to just about "lose it". Frustration, anger, fear, etc were par for the course for me. And it would have just gone from bad to worse. One "trouble code" would have set off another and another and yet another. But this is not the mark of a Christ follower.

There are a number of passages that speak about this 'condition'. Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." While there are things that are beyond our control, the is NOTHING that is beyond His control, and as his children we benefit from what He is able to do in our impossible situations. And because this is true, we don't have to have a cascade of trouble codes that run amok with our hearts and minds. Too often we allow our circumstances to dictate our 'peace' level. This are of our lives should belong to the Lord. It is HIS peace that guards our hearts and minds, even when we don't understand it, can't fix it, don't have an answer, or are unsure of the outcome.

What are your trouble code triggers? What gets the cascade going in your life? Where does your trust in God get challenged? Whatever they are, God wants to relieve you of that burden and replace it with his peace.

I've been a little surprised at how calm I've been through this experience, but the real blessing is that Megan and the kid shave noticed the difference. We set out on this journey to encourage pastors, and already God is encouraging our family, even in the midst of 'the storm'.