That Sinking Feeling

We have been called out of this world into a walk in the Spirit of God, and He has given us what we need in order to experience what He has in store for us.  2nd Peter 1 says:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2nd Corinthians 5 reminds us that we have been made new creations in Christ Jesus - we are to pursue the things of God, not the lures of this world.  We have the resources necessary in order to pursue spiritual growth and avoid spiritual collapse. God wants us to know Him, and we can come to know Him as His Word becomes an integral part of our lives.

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The Bible is full of instruction and encouragement for us - showing how to walk in God's ways and to reject those elements that can cause us spiritual harm and decline.  James 1 says:

21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

There was a rather unusual birthday party held recently in the Jackson, Mississippi area.

There was a sign that was put up, that read, among other things: “Happy Birthday Pothole" and "I’ve been here for over a year;"  that's according to the story posted on the KXAN website, originating from WJTV.   The poster board sign was attached to a caution sign.

The pothole is apparently about 16 months old.  The location: right in the middle of the road in a residential area with cars on both sides of the street.  Local resident Eddie Prosser thought after 14 calls to 311, he would take a different approach.

Well, apparently progress is being made - as of last week, the city paid a Sunday morning visit to the birthday pothole and filled it with dirt, according to WAPT television station.  Resident Tracey Metcalf is quoted as saying that they "...were driving to church and we honked our horn, ‘We were like, ‘Woo! Way to go!’ Then on the way home from church, ‘We were like, you’re kidding, right?’” She added, “Maybe they'll come back and pave it. If that's the case, we are happy.”

There were also two smaller potholes nearby that neighbors had nicknamed as the big pothole's “little brothers.” Both have also been filled with dirt.

A city worker had told a neighbor that the big pothole was 5 feet deep.

There are several steps in the lifespan of this pothole, and you might even find a spiritual analogy, if you dig a bit.  So here goes...

First of all, conditions were right for the development of the pothole and its "brothers." Call it too much moisture or just shaky ground.   The ground was weak, the infrastructure was shot, and the hole was born.   It can go to show us what can happen when we fail to guard against spiritual collapse.   If we are not careful to be grounded in the Word, rooted in the Scriptures, and connected to the Spirit, we become vulnerable to detrimental spiritual consequences.

Now, we certainly don't celebrate spiritual collapse, but the Spirit will draw attention to our areas where we need to shore up our relationship with the Lord.  The neighbor, Mr. Prosser, decided that a creative sign campaign might do the trick to call attention to the pothole, and the accompanying media coverage didn't hurt, either.  We are promised that the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin - we can examine whether or not we are listening to Him as He points out where we need to improve.

As of the last report, the city of Jackson had taken some action - it filled in the hole with dirt.  What was done underneath to insure these conditions don't return?  Who knows.  But, one could assume this is a band-aid approach to the problem.  We have to make sure we're not glossing over the deep-rooted areas in our lives that have caused spiritual collapse by tossing a little dirt - maybe some lip service, perhaps a confession, but not real action to eliminate the problem.   God wants to fill the holes in our hearts and the deficiencies in our spiritual lives by doing a deep work that heals, restores, and strengthens us.