When the Furnace Goes Out

Just last night, coldest day of the year, our furnace goes out. We like to sleep with it cold, but waking up to high 30's in your bedroom is a bit chilly. Thankfully we have a fireplace and were able to keep the coals going through the night in our living room.

After looking at the furnace panel, cleaning the filter, reading the manual, pushing reset buttons, it still wasn't working. Typically I'm thinking "Oh great, service call, something really wrong, $$$..."

So Curtis from the Heating and Cooling company calls me back and I tell him the red light is flashing twice then going off. He says "That's a problem with the pressure switch. Have you checked the pipe coming in to the house, cause it's usually just a bit of snow blocking things up."

"Uhhhh, no. It is colder outside than it is inside, just a bit (and I'm not smart enough to figure out something might be blocking the pipe...)"

So I walk outside and sure enough, a thin layer of snow is on the screen covering the pipe which I brush off. Back inside, turn stuff back on, voila, it works.

I've found this to be true of many things in life. Asking the right questions, recognizing I'm not very smart, and sometimes the problem isn't very complicated and neither is the solution.

During this 40 Days of Renewal, we're drawing closer to Jesus by reading His Word and praying. When we get closer to God, many times the things that aren't working are flashing a warning code to us. We can put duct tape over the light and ignore it. Or we can wrongly assume it must not be God if negative things come to our attention.

But chances are, it is Jesus. He shines His light on what isn't working -- because it hinders our relationship with Him and keeps us from His good plans.

I'm committed to let Jesus teach me about stuff I don't understand. It isn't always easy and it can get rather complicated. But sometimes it's pretty simple. And God is good.