Losing Paint and Gaining Wisdom

As I was departing from a carpark today, the car in front of me stopped and very slowly inched forward.  At first I thought it was caution before turning right, as there were cars lined up on both sides of the street that obscured a clear view.  Then I suspected it was out of care for the paint on the bumper because the dip was extreme.  When my turn came to make a right--careful though I was--I felt the front bumper graze the bitumen and scraped off some paint.  Likely the fellow before me had already learned the lesson I did by experience.

I have found learning by personal experience to be the natural order of things.  Though I saw the other driver taking great care in turning right, I did not know precisely why he was so slow in doing so.  Even when I suspected I knew the reason, we were driving different models of vehicles, and his car had lower profile tyres.  Drivers of utes of four-wheel drives would not need to slow down at all to safely navigate the turn.  Depending on the type of car being driven, the speed and angle of the exit made the difference between scraping a bumper and turning unscathed.  Those whose cars have little road clearance would not even drive into the carpark because they know full well they will have to depart, so to protect their their fiberglass and paint would rather park on the street.  Such remain vigilant to avoid such dips in the road because they value their vehicle and want to avoid damaging it.

The situation illustrates well the need to establish healthy boundaries in our lives, and we often learn where a boundary should be observed by pushing past it.  One person may be fine to drink a glass of wine with dinner, but someone else realises they cannot have one glass of wine without drinking the whole bottle when it continues to happen.  For the person who cannot restrict themselves to one drink, the best course of action likely is to not drink alcohol at all.  Another person may enjoy playing a puzzle game on their phone, and they too through experience discover they are not able to show restraint.  An avid player may tell himself, "Just one more game" and then play 6 more games before he finally heads off to bed at a late hour that will negatively impact rising on time in the morning.  I have found when we push past boundaries we have established for ourselves with our health and well-being in mind, this likely signals we have a problem and lack self-control.  It may even be sin.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:12, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."  There are many things that are legal but are not helpful; there are activities which are enjoyable that work to addict us.  It is good for us to learn lessons by experience in the exercise of our liberty given to us in Christ, that we use our liberty to live for the LORD's sake, that we submit to His rule and guidance.  We can spare ourselves from conflict by avoiding things that are unhelpful and makes us slaves.  The LORD who convicts of sin will help us to know what boundaries we ought to observe, and the lines we should not cross might be in different places from other Christians.  But know godly boundaries are for our good.  There is much we can learn from observing others in God's word and the world, but sometimes it takes losing a bit of paint to gain wisdom by experience.