If I tell you about something I used to do in high school, I need you to not judge me.

‍

Growing up as a teenager in the South during the mid 2000s, summers were meant for sleeping in, eating Chick-Fil-A, and doing everything you could to not pass out from heat stroke. This could look like spending every day at the pool, going to the lake, or visiting one of the many kayaking/tubing places to spend the day floating down a river.

‍

I don’t exactly remember where I was headed on this particular day, but while I was out, I passed by what appeared to be a run-down, possibly even deserted, home with a “River Tube-ing & Kayaking” sign out front, a broken-down van under some brush in the driveway, and a yard full of kayaks.

‍

I parked (yep), walked up to the door (I know), and knocked (I’m sorry). An older gentleman answered the door and explained that if I paid him in cash, I could get in his van, he’d hitch up his trailer, and drive me to the river.

‍

Even as I’m typing this, I’m wondering where my parents were.

‍

To someone with a fully developed frontal lobe, “Get in my van” would have ended the conversation, but to seventeen-year-old me, finding this place was like the Goonies finding One-Eyed Willy’s treasure.

‍

I introduced all of my friends to the world of “River Tube-ing & Kayaking” that summer, and we spent several summers after that riding in this man’s van down to the river.  

‍

Was this illegal? No… surprisingly.

Did we have fun? We loved it.

Could something horrible have happened and no one would have known where we were because none of our parents knew about this place? Absolutely.

‍

While I was clearly not paying attention to any potential warning signs during this situation, how many other times do we, intentionally or not, choose to look the other way when we feel the tap of the Holy Spirit asking us to pause and think.  

‍

It can be difficult to recognize God’s voice in those moments when the danger doesn’t always seem that threatening.

‍

This can look like engaging in the comment section of a post your coworker made who believes and votes differently than you. You may have won that argument, but you just lost your influence with them.

‍

It can look like pulling out your phone late at night and promising yourself that this is the last time you’re going to visit that website, and then you really are going to call it quits.

‍

Or it can even look like looking forward to “taking the edge off” every night because of how crazy the school year has been, but before you know it, your daily drink has now turned into two, and you don’t know how to function without it.

‍

Are any of these things illegal? No.

Do they give us brief moments of what may feel like happiness? Sometimes.

Do we believe that God wants to save us from situations that come across as innocent but have the potential to trap us? I hope we do.

‍

We serve a God who has lovingly given us the gift to choose what to do, but if I’m being totally honest, sometimes we willingly choose to get into someone’s van.

‍

And friends, just ‘cause we could, doesn’t always mean we should.

Do you feel like there are areas of your life that, despite all of the warning signs, you’ve willingly chosen to look the other way from? I know I do.

‍

My prayer for you and me is that we would have such an encounter with the Living God today that we gladly hand over every area of our lives - even the one we may feel is harmless.

‍

Jesus, would you be the loudest voice in our head today.