Most of life’s crises begin so small they’re imperceptible. Whether it’s a cavity, a roof leak, or car trouble, in the beginning we know nothing.

Several months ago, I noticed our shower floor drain wasn’t draining as it should. Since this “beach shower” in the basement is the only shower we’ve got, I should have taken immediate action but ignored it for several more weeks. As it worsened, I thought pouring a gallon of bleach down the drain would help, but no.

More weeks passed, and the post-shower floor-puddle grew bigger and bigger. Eventually Nelson tried a plunger, followed by a toilet auger, then a liquid drain opener, and finally 25 feet of cable he purchased at Home Depot, hand-wound down the drain. But still it worsened with the water taking a full day to drain after each shower.

Eventually my neighbors came with a second cable, working in two linked floor drains, but the problem continued. We bought “the most powerful drain-unclogger in the world,” but the pipes responded by becoming 100% blocked.

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When any of us first become aware a problem is brewing and have a chance to take quick action, we often don’t.  Our reasons seem valid at the time:

• My car’s been running great for 75,000 miles. That little noise is probably nothing.
• I had a physical exam a month ago. If this new pain was significant, the doctor would have caught it then.
• That spark in the wall outlet was just a one-time thing.

It’s easy to subscribe to the quasi-truth that “no news is good news,” at least until telltale signs of trouble pop up: a dripping noise under the kitchen sink, a thermostat unwilling to hit 70, a dog incessantly scratching himself. Instead of tackling the problem head-on, though, it’s simpler to hope it’ll correct itself.

But our hearts know better.

Spiritually we function in much the same way. Maybe we let a couple of white lies slip out, knowing they’re wrong but planning to correct them later. Then when we find ourselves in a lie-littered disaster zone, we regret indulging in that first little fib. Or maybe we fudge on a tax form, promising to catch up next time and end up with penalties and interest many times the size of our original bill.

God gave each of us an early warning system to help us stay out of trouble: a conscience. He’s moving us to take action the minute we think, “I shouldn’t be doing this.” If we ignore that and plunge ahead, we’ll be on our way to a mountain of misery.

Today my relatives arrived with a 50 foot rented, motorized cable, but after 4 hours of back-breaking effort, our sign still says, “No showers allowed.”

Stay tuned…

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)