Car dashboards these days have a multitude of warning lights. In addition to the low fuel gauge, we now see warning lights when oil or tire pressure is low, a seatbelt is not set, and the dreaded “check engine” light, just to name a few.  In addition to warning lights, many dashboards display our exact speed, the current street we are driving on, lane departure warnings, brake now, and the exact “miles til empty”.  The one light I have yet to find on my current car is “buy new battery soon”.  This particular light would have been great for two of our vehicles over the summer. Our navigation systems can even warn us of potholes, stalled cars in our path, and stalled traffic along our route.  Wouldn’t it be great if our own bodies had warning lights too?  

Most of us realize at times when our physical health has a problem.  We take medication for pain when needed.  We take medication for heartburn when we eat the wrong foods.  A toothache might send us to the dentist in a hurry.  But do we recognize other slow building signs?  Many times health issues “creep up” on us and we don’t get help early enough to prevent major problems.  A warning light on our knees that said “arthritis developing”, on our wrist blinking “check heart”, on our forehead “migraine approaching” and a really huge warning “cancer developing”.  See a doctor NOW!  

I could also use those warning lights to help me through some emotional health issues. Sudden situations can send us drowning in our tears. They may cause us to ignore our true grief and let it build up for too long. Recently I would have benefitted from a warning sign saying “incoming – extremely sad phone call”. I would have answered it while parked and not driving!  Sometimes little things irritate us and we ignore them.  Then one day an entirely different “little irritant” arrives and we explode.  A nice warning light  “stop and think” would be beneficial in helping us redirect our words. Even better, a warning “irritation ahead” might help us detour around the problem altogether.    (Note: I consider mental health issues as physical health problems. Emotional health to me is situational.) 

My spiritual health is of utmost importance.  I strive daily to let God lead me and direct my day.  But doing that 100% of every day doesn’t truly happen.  I give in to worry, doubt, fear, anger, and sadness.  Worry creeps in about loved ones’ own health concerns.  Doubt about very unimportant things drags me down.  Fear of “what if’s” that will never occur interfere.   Anger and sadness at violence in our world fill me with dread.  Warning lights reminding me to “pause and pray”, “breath and release” or “talk to a fellow believer” would certainly help keep the unwanted thoughts and feelings from creating issues in my body. 

I know my body and mind do show me warning signs daily, but do I truly pay attention to them?  Just as there have been times I ignored the funny sounds my car made, I also tend to ignore the funny “sounds” in my body.  When cars got “smarter” and began showing me glaring signs as I drove, I made sure my car was taken care of properly.  I need to find a way to “hear” the warning sounds in my own engine!  I know Jesus is there to guide me and the Spirit tells me daily what I need to do. I guess I need to turn up the volume on my internal hearing aids – and then do what I know is needed!    

“For God does speak-now one way, now another-though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.”  Job 33:14-18