Space to cool

I dressed up my old Ford with a new carburetor.  She started pretty good when the motor was cold. But I had the darnedest time restarting it after the engine had warmed up.  The 44-year old V-8 turned over, but it lagged, gurgled and easily flooded. I called a tech specialist at Summit Racing who had sold me the new Edelbrock carburetor. After explaining my situation, he suggested that the heat from the intake manifold was “spoiling the fuel” after the hot motor was turned off. The good gasoline sat in a hot bowl in the carburetor, which caused the fuel to go bad.

Dissipating the heat was the hoped-for solution. He looked up the part number for a half-inch thick “heat dissipater.” It’s now installed on the truck between the intake manifold and the carburetor, and it seems to be working.

I’ve found that my old truck is as much a mirror for my life as it is transportation. There have been numerous times that I’ve seen myself reflected in the chipped and pockmarked exterior, the lagging starts, the sputtering powerhouse.

Specific to this carb issue and the need for a heat dissipater, I have reflected on the fact that God has created me as an emotion-filled, passionate man. I can quickly heat up over things righteous and unrighteous alike. In those moments a slim half-inch space for the Holy Spirit makes a mile-wide difference. That half-inch – half-minute – moment to breathe with the Holy Spirit’s help is what I need. He keeps my God-given passions from spoiling. Passion and emotions meant to fuel my life, if not given space to Breathe, go bad, literally flooding my soul in ways that fail to properly ignite my life for God-glorifying acts.