Alarms In the Middle of the Night

Back in December my car did something really weird. My car alarm would randomly go off, even when I wasn't touching my key. I seriously had no idea what was wrong so I did two things, I googled it and I asked my guy friends to take look at it. After figuring it was probably a dying battery I figured I would just change it when I got to Sonora.

The problem went away for a while but recently it's decided to go off again. However, this time things escalated to be far worse then before. Now my alarm was going off at the most random times (at inconvenient times I might add, like 2 am) and frequently as well too. It was getting so bad that my car was going off at least 15 times a day. (I really wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.) I'm really glad we live in the middle of the country far from neighbors because I'm sure they wouldn't be too pleased. Unfortunately since my schedule has been extremely busy I had to endure it until my day off.

People told me that I should just disconnect the battery from my car, but I realized that wouldn't solve the problem. I wouldn't even be able to use my car if the battery is disconnected. The next thing I thought to do is to go to Radio Shack to buy a new battery for my key. So on my day off, I drove to the little shopping center and walked into Radio Shack. The worker took one look at my key and immediately said, "these things are delicate, you need to go to a dealership because I'm afraid to break it."

Since we live in a small town and the nearest dealership is in Modesto, I had to wait for the next day off to get it fixed. I was starting to get to the point of not wanting to use my car. When we would go to church I'd ask Melina if we could take her car because I didn't want my alarm continuously going off during the service.

Finally the day had arrived and I beyond stoked to go to Modesto to get my car fixed. That very day it got so bad that my alarm went off while my car was on. (You can imagine how awkward that was. People must've thought I was trying to steal my own car.) When I went to the dealership, my car alarm was going off just like it had been. I'm actually glad it was, I didn't want it to be like those situations where you go to the doctor and all of the sudden all the symptoms go away and they think you're lying. Nope, it went off at least 8 times.

When they took my key they discovered that it wasn't the key battery that had the problem. The real problem was deep inside. Over time the panic button had been worn down so much that on the inside it was pushed in and it kept triggering the alarm. The only way to fix it was to get an entirely new key. Thankfully it didn't take long. They got a new key and had to reprogram it and then everything was completely fixed. The weird part is that even though I knew my key was fixed and still had this feeling that my alarm would go off. It was like I had been scarred so much by the constant alarm that I was even scared to use my key. In fact instead of pushing the buttons I had gotten into the habit of just unlocking my door manually. But then I had to keep remembering that the problem is gone, and it's okay to use my key again.

Even though that experience was definitely character building, I learned a lot from it.

1. The car alarm is like the warnings of sin. It's telling you something is wrong, please fix it.
2. One way to temporarily stop the problem is by disconnecting from the Life Source altogether. It may stop the alarm for a bit, but then you become useless.
3. Sometimes we try to run to others to help us fix the problem, but even they realize that they can't do anything about it. 
4. What you have to do is go to the original Maker.
5. It may take opening you up to see what the problem really is. You may not be able to tell what it is on the outside because the problem is deep within. 
6. It also may not be a quick fix, many times you actually need to be made completely new.
7. Just because you're made new doesn't mean you aren't scared of the effects that you've previously suffered.
8. Don't be afraid. It's okay now, because you're made new. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. 

2 Corinthians 5:17