“$2,500?!” That much…?!
I felt like someone had just sucked all the air out of the room!
My mouth stood wide open. I was absolutely speechless.
So was my HVAC repairman. He just stood there.
Respectful…quiet…and still…and waiting for me to breathe again.
After what seemed like an eternity (but probably only like 60 seconds) he responded: “yep. Hopefully that’s all that it is…and you won’t have to replace the entire unit” (which, thanks to a previous breakdown in October 2024, I knew was at least $7,000 – $8,000!). But I won’t really know until I figure out what’s really going on. Well, let me get to it or else you’ll never warm up.”
The “411”
At this point I feel that I should give you the “4-1-1” and clue you in on what was happening. Several days ago the heat in my home decided to stop working. As you all know, I live in an older home. Okay, that’s somewhat of an understatement. My home is ancient! It was built in 1900! Which means, yes, it’s officially 125 years old! So needless to say that there’s not much in the way of effective insulation in my home. I literally have newspaper in many of my walls! I had been using two small space heaters to heat two rooms in my house. And it had not been going well. I had been a Puerto-Rican popsicle for three days!
Problem Solved!
It took repair guy more than hour and several trips in and out of my home to figure out the problem. He told me that he had found and solved the problem, and it was a faulty thermostat. He said that everything in my unit and system was working properly, but the thermostat wasn’t allowing it all to work properly. He explained that the thermostat was the main unit that basically ran the show—and if the thermostat was damaged, then no matter how well the rest of the system ran, the thermostat wouldn’t allow it to function properly.
Praise God that he was able to fix the problem in an hour and praise God (again) that the cost was not $2,500! Not even close! A trustworthy HVAC repair person is tops on my list; right up there with my doctor, tax preparer, mechanic, and plumber!
Faulty Thermostat
Let me tell you, as a homeowner, I’ve learned that it’s truly a blessing to have a group of prayer warriors praying for me and my home, because we definitely need it. And as I gave them the update and prayer praise report, I joked about the fact that the repair of the faulty thermostat was definitely something that smacked of a life lesson. But as the day wore on and I continued to think about and pray about this issue, this truth continued to make itself real in my mind, and it was the simple fact that everything that I did would ultimately be tied to what I decided to trust in. In other words, the thing that I decided to turn to when things got tough would be the thing that would ultimately be the thing that would control everything else in my life. In effect, the one thing that I turn to as my thermostat is the thing that has the main control over everything else in my life.
When it comes to seeking out wisdom in life, I want to turn to God, and when it comes to the things of God, I tend to turn to Solomon, for the simple fact that he literally wrote the handbook—“Proverbs”–on being wise. This is what he wrote in the introduction to the book of Proverbs: “Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart. And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]” (Proverbs 3:5, 6, AMP).
I’ve Got Issues!
I’ve got issues! As you already know, I’m a recovering addict, so you know that I’ve got issues turning to the wrong thermostat. You don’t have to be an addict to turn to the wrong things in life and damage your spiritual thermostat, however. Turning to anything other than God can damage it.
For the majority of people, it’s not the bad things such as sex, drugs, porn, or other outright bad stuff that causes build-up, corrosion, or damages our spiritual thermostat; no. Not at all. The worst things are in fact all the good things used in not so good ways; things like food and relationships…and even the Bible, truth, church, and ministry. If we’re not careful, we can turn those good things into God things, and begin to worship them instead of the One who gave those good things to us.
My Meditation Mantra
For many people turning to their smartphone first thing in the morning is automatic. And realistically speaking, I no longer have an actual alarm clock beside my bed, but instead, sleep with my cell phone beside me, too. And, real talk, when I wake up, shortly after thanking God for waking me up, I check the time on it. I also use it to read my Bible on and listen to my daily devotionals on it as well. Gone are the days that I regularly read my actual paper Bible.
When I was much younger I used to be involved in martial arts and I did a lot of transcendental meditation. Along with that, and as part of that practice, I repeated words, thoughts, and phrases to myself and out loud. To be honest, the research related to the incredible benefits of meditation on the body and mind are really incredible! It’s a great thing to calm your body down and focus on your breathing and relaxation. But even more amazing and helpful and healing is what we choose to think about and turn to, and focus on, aka “meditate on” for a focused period of time—thus the term “meditation”! So today, I want to challenge you to daily, first thing in the morning, read and repeat this passage of scripture to God:
Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your failing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands” (Psalms 25: 4-10, NLT).
Then, after you do this, take some time to mentally go down through your day, with God. You know that you’re already doing this in your head anyway, so why not talk to God about it? After all, it’s best to get Him in on the ground floor of things, so to speak.
In fact, author Ellen G. White, in her classic book on knowing Jesus better, Steps to Christ, wrote: “Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, ‘Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.’ This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ” (p. 70).
Overflowing Water!
I know that if you begin to do this one act daily as a regular life practice you will find that your day will begin and will be better. Turn to God as your thermostat and let Him guide and control the temperature of everything that happens to you that day. I know that if you do this consistently you will have the consequence, which is: “ . . . a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:14, NLT). When this happens, you’ll have life flowing out of you to be a blessing to others–to help others to get their faulty thermostats fixed, too.
And the coolest thing about it, is that Jesus has already paid the price for that thermostat, so we don’t ever have to!
