Hidden Pressure?

There are some phone calls that you don’t want to get. Such was the case a couple of weeks ago. I had just walked in the front door when the phone rang. “This is Lisa at Oak Harbor Utilities – are you Mrs. McCartney? Do you reside at … ? Are you currently at home? We’ve been monitoring your water usage for the past week. It seems that you have a major leak in your water line. I’m sending someone over now to turn off your service.”

While Pat and the utilities guy crawled around under the house, I walked through our front yard … and stepped into a hidden pool of water. I relayed my discovery to the guys. After crawling out from under the house, Pat began digging. He encountered a LARGE rock about 8 inches down but had to quit digging and go to work. The next day he called son Nathan for help. More digging ensued. Then they discovered a second LARGE rock adjacent to the first. Passersby gawked. Neighbors commented. Most thought that we were digging in the wrong place because no one would ever knowingly dump two LARGE rocks on a water line!

Removal of the rocks required levers, a tow chain and our four-wheel drive truck. Each rock weighed at least 200 pounds. More digging uncovered the plastic water line … split by decades of ever increasing pressure as the rocks slowly settled in place. Neighbors shook their heads, incredulous that someone had INTENTIONALLY dumped the boulders into the trench on top of the water line!

As I thought about this “cover up,” it dawned on me … aren’t we sometimes guilty of doing the EXACT same thing? Don’t we sometimes try to bury unconfessed sin … addictions … pain … worry … neglected responsibilities? We cover them up with busyness, good works, regular church attendance, lies and/ or denial. Don’t we think that what is hidden won’t be discovered … won’t cause any real harm … to us … or to others?

Years – decades – may pass while the hidden pressure steadily increases. The flow of the Spirit slows to a trickle … or may become blocked altogether. Then something finally yields to the pressure. Something cracks. What is hidden comes to light. Pain and suffering ensue. Relationships, reputations, and careers may be destroyed. And people shake their heads in disbelief … incredulous that someone intentionally dumped something so egregious on top of something so fragile … then covered it up … thinking that it would forever remain hidden … causing no real harm … at least not in the foreseeable future.

It isn’t too late to deal with that hidden pressure in your life. Dig it up. Expose it to the Light. Seek assistance if it is too big for you to handle alone. Do everything necessary to remedy the wrong before it is too late … before the flow is completely blocked … before the Living Water is shut off.

Pastor Kit