Outside Your Car Experience
Dr. Rikki Permenter, Ph.D., Th. M.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:8
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you may have noticed that essential oils are all the rage lately. Some people have made the shift from pharmaceuticals to natural remedies whenever possible. I was not on board until a recent trip to Haiti. I had a minor ailment and talked to a nurse who was with us about how to treat it with what we had with us. She gave me a concoction of two essential oils to rub on it and I was cured. I was hesitant to believe it would work but I was willing to try. When it worked I was shocked and completely on board with essential oils. Now if you came to my house you would see an arsenal of different oils, smell all kinds of oils diffusing, and I would be rubbing them on my kid and even you for whatever ails you. I have a variety of diffusers and even have one for my car.
I recently started diffusing lavender in my car while I’m driving. At first, when I get in and start it up it smells wonderful. After a while, in the car, I don’t notice it anymore. I thought my diffuser wasn’t working well. I didn’t notice until I got out at the post office the other day and got back in that my car really smelled strong… like super strong… like I bet the car next to me at a red light could smell it. When I was in the middle of it and it was all around me I didn’t notice it getting stronger and stronger. I couldn’t even really tell it was there. When I had this realization I could almost hear God saying to me, “this is what sin is like.”
At first, you notice sin and it is obvious to you but the longer you surround yourself with it and immerse yourself in it the less likely you are to see it. If you were to step outside of your life and look over it would be totally obvious to you, too but when you’re in the middle of sin you can’t always see it. When you grow accustomed to sin it begins to feel normal to you. Do you need to take an outside look at your life today? Take a minute to pull over at an imaginary post office, put your car in park, get out, and then get back in. What do you see, smell, hear, and feel? Is there sin that you have grown accustomed to? Is there sin that is has gotten so strong that others can see it from the car next to you at a red light and you are oblivious to it? Take a minute to pray that God gives you an outside your car experience this week.
This article can be found in print in the monthly Baptist Association of Southeast Louisiana newsletter.
