Have you ever been caught up in the moment, so much that you didn’t think of doing something that could improve that moment?

… That sentence sounded a bit like a riddle that will leave you hypnotized. Let me try to explain.

The other day I was driving to work and my car was very cold. I was shivering and thinking about how cold I was almost all the way to work before I turned on the heat to warm things up.

I’ve had my present car for over six years now, so I know the car’s ways and quirks. One of the things I know about my car is how long it takes to warm up when it is cold.

I need to travel 4 kilometres before the heater really kicks in and starts to blow warm air into the cabin of my little Accent.

Up until that point, turning the heater fan on is pretty much counter productive. I’m cold already from the temperature outside; I don’t need to add to my coldness with a frosty breeze in my face.

So what I do is leave the fan on low or completely off until I drive four kilometres, and the heat starts to kick in.

I take the same route to work each day so I don’t have to look at the odometer to check if I’ve gone the necessary distance. I know when I pass a certain spot on the route that I can turn on the heat and actually get some.

The other day, however, as I was driving to work, I couldn’t get over how cold it was. We’ve had such a mild winter, I figured it should be pretty much over, and higher temperatures should be on the way.

I know the various groundhogs in Punxsutawney, Wiarton, and Shubenacadie had mixed responses when they emerged from their holes. But we should get the benefit of the doubt – two of the three didn’t see their shadows … that means early spring!

… I’m not sure you can trust the judgement of a groundhog anyway. I was just trying to get to work quickly so I could get out of the cold.

It was then that I realized that I’d passed my heat point several kilometres back. I was less than a kilometre from work when I remembered to crank up the heat.

It barely took the edge off by the time I pulled into my parking spot.

I was kicking myself for shivering all that way when I could have had the heat on and gotten warm instead.

My present situation of being cold had captured my attention and kept me from taking a small action that could have changed my circumstance.

Here’s the thing: When we are dealing with something that discourages, saddens, or frustrates us, we can concentrate on our state to the point where we don’t take any action to change our situation. There may be nothing in our power we can do to remove or change our present circumstance, but if we fail to take our situation to God, we miss out on an opportunity to find relief. Don’t be so into your moment that you fail to call on the Lord who can help you. He’s right there all the time.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What caught your focus so that you failed to do something that could have changed your situation? Leave your comment below.