The day before Thanksgiving,  I decided to do a quick run into Costco to pick up a few things.  Quick run and day before Thanksgiving should not even be in the same sentence!

There were hundreds of people in the store and no grocery carts were available, so I decided I’d just carry my items.  After all, I am a strong woman!   I began meandering through the crowd in the food section of the store.  I picked up a bag of fruit, a gallon of milk and a few other items.  Pretty soon it was more than I could manage, and a cart was needed.

Off in the distance I saw an empty cart and raced to get it before someone else did.  I dumped my items in the cart and immediately discovered that the cart had a mind of its own!  When I tried to go straight, it decided to the right.  I had to work so hard to keep the cart in a straight line, that within five minutes, my arms were fatigued.   The wheels on the cart were out of alignment, thus the journey down the aisles was very tiring and unsuccessful.

I was blessed to come upon another empty cart.  Hooray for me!   I put all the items in that cart and continued on my journey down the aisles.  To my dismay, that cart squeaked very loudly and was also out of alignment.  All eyes were on me as I went up and down the aisles screeching and bumping into things.  My cart wasn’t just affecting me now, but those around me.  Surely I could make it the rest of the way even if I was out of alignment!  Once again, my arms become so tired that I did not even want to finish what I had started.  I was ready to give up.  I had much to overcome in order to be victorious in Costco that day, and it was going to be much harder if I continued out of alignment.

My eyes caught a vision of a third empty cart, and I put my items in it.  This one was in perfect alignment.  The journey was no longer sapping my energy.  I was no longer spending so much time fighting just to stay on the path.  I was now able to conquer Costco!

The problem had been an alignment problem.

Too often this is the story of the Christian walk.  God has given us His word to show us how to walk down the aisles of life.  As we journey through life, far too many wrong choices are made about dating, marriage, sex, finances, spiritual matters, Facebook posts and other issues. Making decisions out of alignment with God’s Word will cause our “cart” to go in directions it was never intended.   When we choose to do life our way, we get tired and burned out, and find ourselves struggling to keep it in the road. This can produce a lot of squeaking in our lives, the kind that affects others.

I have made a decision to try to walk my life as close to scriptural principles as possible.   I want to stay in alignment with Him.   What kind of cart are you pushing?  If your cart has you going in all kinds of wrong directions, then today is the day to let go of that squeaky, wayward cart, and lay hold of the cart God has provided.  It sure makes the journey better for you and those around you.

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”  Psalm 119:105