By Steven Temple

Contributing Columnist

 

There are dangers all around us. Some of these are open and easily seen in order to avoid. Others may be hidden or disguised. Some of these have the element of surprise when we finally see them. Oftentimes, it is too late to avoid them once they are exposed.

Over the weekend I spent the majority of my Saturday off from work, well, working. The Saturday job cost me money instead of making me money. We had a hidden problem lurking in the entryway of our house. It wasn’t seen by the eye. It was hidden from plain sight. It decided to reveal itself to us over the course of the month. Becoming more of an issue as each day passed.

Our entryway is a small entrance but dwelling below it was a big trouble. We noticed a little soft spot in the floor. The floating floor was not disturbed. It all looked good from what we could see. However, day by day, this spot became more soft and more apparent that trouble was hidden below it.

I had put it off long enough and it was time to deal with the issue. The floating floor was the problem somehow is what I thought. Maybe a piece of it where it interlocks has broken and caused this softness in the floor. I prepared by purchasing another bundle to take the old out and lay down the new.

From the eye everything looked fine. There was nothing noticeable or troubling from just looking at it. There were no sagging or broken pieces. It looked like it was supposed to look. On the cover, it was in excellent shape. It wasn’t until I removed it that I found this hidden trouble.

Removal of the floating floor was the beginning. Inspecting each piece as I took it apart. No trouble with any of the pieces. No signs of trouble from any of it. It wasn’t until I removed it all that I found this hidden trouble that laid below the surface. Remember, the surface looked good. The trouble was below. The trouble was hidden.

As I removed the pieces, the hidden trouble began to expose itself a little at a time before it blossomed into full scope. The plywood was completely rotted out and was breaking through. Tearing this out was no easy task but it had to be done. Once the hidden trouble was exposed it did not matter how well the covering looked. The trouble would eventually destroy the cover.

Scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes 10:18, “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through the idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” We had felt signs of the trouble but done nothing about it. Over the course of time, as we ignored it, it began to get worse and worse. I am afraid that many of us today are too focused on the outer appearance of things and do not see the warning signs for the hidden troubles that lurk in our lives.

Many times we will not face the troubles until the troubles become so apparent in our lives that we must do something about them. We try to oppress them as much as possible and try to squash them out instead of dealing with them. Many do not deal with these until it is too late. The slothful way of our dealings catches up to us in a hurry.

We must learn to repair, restore, rebuild, or whatever it is that we must do before the troubles begin to cause us to come to a place of decay. We can not allow things that we have tried to hide stay in our lives. We must deal with those when they appear. Just as we ignored all of the signs of the hidden trouble in our flooring, many people do with the sin in their lives. Eventually, the floor will rot and you will fall through if you don’t take the steps necessary to repair it while you have the opportunity. Don’t allow hidden troubles to catch you off guard!

Pastor Steven Temple is the Pastor of The Church on the Hill in Rose Hill, VA. You can reach Pastor Steven at pastor.steven.temple@gmail.com.