"I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:"
- Psalms 18:3a

It wasn't funny at the time.

My wife Paula had bought a ping-pong table for me for my birthday.  I had been playing tennis for years and this seemed like a natural "sport" for me to pick up on during the winter when the outdoors were unsuitable for getting out on the courts.

We excitedly tore open the box and began assemblying the parts.

Don't ever do that.

Don't ever rush right into something without reading the directions.

Disaster awaits.  Seriously.  It does.  We found out the hard way.

We were putting on the finishing touches when we noticed a grievous problem that we were unprepared to handle.  A set of brackets had been attached backwards.  This kept the two sides of the ping-pong table from aligning properly.

Translation?

We had to spend another 45 minutes taking apart the portions we had already completed.  Then, of course, we re-assembled the table again.

Sitting there in a pool of sweat, our hands worn raw from the extra work and our dispositions long since dampened, we had realized the importance of reading the directions.  Upon browsing the instructions we had found the solution to our problem.  But, if we had taken just a few minutes to look over something that was designed to help us, then the hardship would have been avoided altogether.

Which prompts the question...

...why do we wait until we get ourselves into a bind before consulting our instructions?

Unfortunately, it's a problem that needs addressing all too often in our spiritual lives, as well.

You see, if we're not careful, we rush right into our day...

...without ever stopping to read our directions, the Word of God.

And we are cruising right along, assemblying the parts of our work and home and recreation and all is going well until...

...we notice a grievous problem.  Sometimes it is temptation and sin, other times discouragement, worry or anxiety.  Still other times the problem is some form of hardship or struggle.

And we're not prepared to handle it.

So, what do we do?  Finally, we consult our direction book.  We open the Bible and quickly find the answer.

Which, again, prompts the question, why do we wait until we get ourselves into a bind to read the Word of God, our instructions?

My friend, the road that stretches out in front of us today to will, no doubt, be littered with many bumps.  Perhaps some detours lie ahead.  Temptation, discouragement, anxiety, worry, relationship problems, decisions and choices, health issues and much more await us.

How do we prepare for them all?  How can we handle what lies ahead?  It's simple.  Before we head out on the road of life today, we need to...