It was a situation I glossed over.  I didn’t have to deal with it every single
day but it was often enough for me to go to my Bible study group and submit it
as a prayer request.  They would listen
to me and invariably one or two of them would tell me, “You’ve got to take care
of that. Get rid of it.”

I knew I should, but I didn’t want to face the conflict and
I was fearful of the consequences.  Life
would not be the same. I would have to find other avenues to fill the void that
the resolution would create.

So instead of facing it once and for all, I worked around
it.  I figured out ways to deal with it. My
work was suffering because of it, but I kept making excuses that it would get
better over time.  If I just kept feeding
the monster, it would be satisfied, and things would work out. But that’s not
what happened. I had sleepless nights of worry; I was short-tempered and spent
a lot of time wringing my hands and waiting for a better result.

Before you start thinking I’m some drug addict or that I
have a drinking problem, you can put your wild guesses to rest, it was nothing
of the sort.

I ranted, I complained, I sought sympathy but all that I received
were simple solutions that were within reach, I just didn’t want to make that
move, until I did.

I finally got so tired of the game, when a time out was
called, I walked off the court. This time out gave me the chance to get things in
focus.  When I stepped back and looked at
the big picture, I finally realized what needed to be done.  I needed a blowout.

The blowout happened, and it was ugly.  It was like my tire blew up and the car
skidded into the ditch. I was forced to get a whole new tire but now that car
drives itself.

There is no more fear of what might happen or what the
resolution looked like. It fell into place and provided a path to victory. The
result was restful nights and work done in a timely manner. I no longer felt
like I was being taken advantage of and I was able to see that things were
going to be just fine.

Sometimes we don’t recognize the changes that need to be
made until they are made for us. And sometimes we need to step out in faith and
be fearless, counting on the freedom to come.