Some jobs require people to pay really close attention to safety. In industries like mining or oil and gas, workers may use gas monitors to warn them when dangerous fumes are present.
Those monitors have to be checked and calibrated regularly because over time they can experience something called “sensor drift.” Basically, ongoing exposure to a harsh environment can affect how accurately they read what is happening around them.
That idea made me think about my own heart.
Life can feel like a harsh environment sometimes. Stress, disappointment, pressure, fear, and all the voices around us can slowly affect the way we see things. If I am not careful, my spiritual “sensors” can start drifting too.
Things that once bothered me may not bother me as much. I may start reacting out of frustration instead of patience. I may start believing something just because I have heard it enough times.
That is why I need regular time with the Lord to recalibrate.
Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
I love that prayer because it invites God to show me what I may not be seeing clearly anymore.
Sometimes I need Him to point out where my thinking has drifted, where my heart has gotten off course, or where the pressure around me has started shaping me more than His Word.
The environment around us is always going to have an effect. That is why I want to keep coming back to God and letting Him recalibrate my heart.