Out Of Alignment

I’ve learned the hard way that proper alignment is important. Automobile tires aren’t cheap, but I’ve worn out a set or two of tires prematurely because I didn’t keep my car in alignment.

The trouble is that you can get used to poor alignment, can’t you? You notice that the car seems to want to drift to the right when you’re driving down the road, but you just compensate a little to the left with the steering wheel, and everything seems pretty much okay. But there’s a price to be paid. Poor wheel alignment causes uneven tread-wear on your tires, and sooner or later, you’re going to have to do something about it. If you’re lucky, you don’t find out by way of a blowout, but at the very least, you’re going to be springing for a new tire or two, long before it’s really necessary.

In the same way, when our lives are out of alignment with God, it causes unnecessary wear and tear. Oh, we can acclimate to a certain extent, and it may even be a long time before we realize the damage that has been done, but the damage is already there. I see it in the eyes of people who come to me for counseling. It shows up in depression, in estranged family members, in ruined marriages, in broken friendships—in lost dreams.

We are not designed to live our lives out of alignment with God. If we don’t periodically recalibrate, something, somewhere is going to get out of whack. And the consequences can be devastating.