Oil Slick

    It started with a lack of oversight. We don’t know the whole story yet, but it won’t be long before we learn that maintenance had slipped and accountability was lacking. Someone didn’t do something they should have done. When disaster struck, those responsible minimized the damage. Oversight agencies were assured that the owners would take care of it themselves. All the while, black oozed from the damaged area deep beneath the surface at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day (initially said to be a fraction of that). You don’t have to be an environmental activist to be alarmed at the damage this is causing to wildlife, or even the economies of the Gulf states, which are dependent on fishing, tourism and commerce along the Gulf coast. Now understood to be nearly unmanageable, the government is supposedly stepping in to make sure something is done. But as I am writing this, it is still questionable that any of the “fix-it” theories will stop the hemorrhage, or that the clean-up plans will not do more harm than good. This is truly a disaster that will eventually affect the entire country––environmentally and economically. And it all started with lax maintenance and irresponsible oversight.
    But don’t be too quick to judge!
    How’s the maintenance in your life going? Are you open to oversight? Or are some of the early signs of a massive disaster in the making?
    I see some very sad parallels between what is unfolding off the shores of Louisiana and the imploded lives of those who wreaked havoc in their world by letting sin get the upper hand. It starts when a person is distracted from needed daily spiritual maintenance and nobody is around to notice without active accountability in their lives. When the sin does become noticeable, the offending party minimizes the real danger and friends tend to back off, as though the same person who created the disaster is likely to fix it on his own. It doesn’t happen.
    People are shocked when the family, work, or church explosion occurs, but the cracks had been forming as deterioration had been occurring deep below the surface for a long time. Sadly, it's not just the individuals who are responsible who pay the price. Everyone around them is affected. As a pastor, I have had to help clean up the rubble in the lives of kids who are usually the most devastated by the aftermath of a spiritual explosion created by poor maintenance and deficient accountability.
    How’s your daily maintenance? Are you consistently in the Word and spending time in prayer with a daily quiet time with God?
    Do you have good accountability in your life with close friends or family members who are there to help you stay the course? Are you open to their help or do you recoil at any hint of correction?
    The oil slick in the Gulf is growing every day. Fishing is shut down, ports are closed, sea life is dying. And it all could have been avoided. Sometimes the thing that keeps me most on track is a reminder of what could be if I’m not. There’s too much at stake in my life. And there is in yours as well. If you don’t have a regular maintenance program in place, establish a daily quiet time today. And surround yourself with a few godly people who will help hold you to it!