Today's Devotional

June 16, 2005

Subject:  Temperature Adjustment

Jeremiah 10:19b - "...Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."

Yesterday I was driving southward on Interstate 85 approximately 2 hours away from Atlanta when I heard a loud thud.  The initial shock stunned me and then when I noticed no changes, I continued to drive.  However, a few minutes later, I noticed that it was getting warmer in the car and adjustments to the temperature controls seemed to have little effect.  I began to think in my mind, "did that thud have something to do with this problem?"  Two hours later I arrived in Atlanta, stopped at a gas station and popped the hood.  My air conditioner belt had popped off and a bolt that was attaching an assembly had broken.  That was the thud noise I had heard.  I happened to know of a BMW dealer right around the corner, took it there and they were able to put the car up on the rack, check it out and realized they didn't have the part in stock.  They asked if I wanted to wait a day and I said, "thanks, but no thanks."  I had to hit the road to get home.  With temperatures hovering just below 100 degrees and with no air conditioner I thought to myself like the verse above, "truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."

The rest of the trip was a warm one.  The radio stations in Alabama and Mississippi continually talked about the 105 heat index for the day.  However for me, it didn't seem that bad and by the evening, I actually had to roll up the windows for the coolness.  What happened?  My body made the temperature adjustment.  After driving in the very hot weather all day, my body compensated by adjusting it's thermostat and keeping me cool in the hundred degree temperatures, therefore, 75 degrees felt really cool that evening.  

Sometimes God has to do a temperature adjustment to us.  We're just wandering through life and then something happens and we're in the heat of things.  It could be the loss of a job, a situation with a spouse or children or maybe even the death of a loved one.  And often, just like my 12 hours from Atlanta to Prairie View, Texas, the heat of the situation is prolonged.  But God in His way adjusts our thermostat so that we are able to sweat through it and amazingly, after you've been through the real heat, warm temperatures are a breeze.

Today you may be in the heat of life or perhaps everything is going okay.  Either way, know that God can adjust your thermostat and when the heat comes, it might be hot, but you'll be cool throughout.

Carlen