At first glance you probably clicked on this article for the sheer fact that either

1) You are a car guru and you just wanted to rip a comment about how stupid it is to fix my car with duct tape

2) You have no idea about cars (like me) and were wondering how I could possibly pull off such a feat

3) You and your cousin think duct tape is the coolest thing in the world

... or my favorite,

4) You had nothing better to do other than sit and scroll through Facebook while nervously waiting to hear the results of the election

No matter what category you fit in, I promise you, it won't hurt to read on.

So here we go. Imagine...

You are an 18 year old freshman in college. You go to a small private school that happens to cost way more than it should... $44,000 too much. You don't live too far from your house, but it is far enough that you want a car to enjoy "the college life." After 3 weeks of college you realize that the food court closes at 9 p.m., and you are still hungry at 3 a.m. Lucky for you, Taco Bell is right around the corner, but let's address the elephant in the room... your school is located within a protective bubble and outside that bubble is...well...not so safe or bubbly. That being said,Taco Bell is automatically ruled out by the fact that there is a creepy white van with a sign "L0St D0g, pLs HeLP" on it in between you and your satisfaction in greasy food, heartburn, and massive explosive diarrhea. The only solution to this obvious dilemma is a new (very used) CAR.

After 30 minutes of vigorously searching Craigslist, you find the perfect new (very used) car and you are convinced that this is your one true love that will last you forever (or maybe 10 months, realistically).

Now this is where we switch to my story.

I got my first car just before Thanksgiving, last year.

It was a beautiful Red 2000 Honda Accord Coupe. It was amazing and I couldn't have asked for anything better in my life at the time. I saved up for this and paid $2500 cash. Hondas come from a great family of cars that are renowned for their longevity and likewise, tend to not have too many issues. It comes from a family that has built rapport and a great relationship with the people that drive them.

On my way home, I identified my first problem in the car. The speedometer displayed about 10 mph slower than the actual speed I was driving. After I went above 30 mph a small issue incurred. An officer pulled me over, asked how fast I thought I was going, and I replied with a confident... "I actually have no idea." So that went well for me.

Over the next 10 months, the problems began to seriously pile up.

One of the tubes that cooled my engine leaked.

The paint was chipping off the side of the car.

The oil in the engine leaked constantly.

The bottom of my car was actually detached and was dragging on the ground.

All the warning lights on my dashboard looked like a Christmas tree on Christmas day. Every one of them were on.

Probably the biggest problem of all was that my car would sometimes just smoke like crazy, and then stop out of nowhere.

So here is what I did to solve that huge problem.

As a disclaimer, I promise it totally worked for a little while and I temporarily thought I solved all the problems with my car.

When my car first smoked out of the hood I took duct tape, and taped the hood. (You know, the hood, the front of the car that you can lift up and prop open and act like you know something about cars - yeah, that.)

I duct taped it shut.

I figured, "Hey, I know something is wrong with my car. I have no idea what that is, but I figured it out for now.”

Now before i get the car gurus to comment on my post saying “Ya big dummy, duct tape isn’t going to fix that problem!”

...I know.

I did not really put duct tape on my car, but i'm trying to tell a story that has a great moral… deal with it.

Back to the story…

I put duct tape on the hood and what it really did is hide the problem from other people to see the smoke coming out of my life.. I mean car.

Now sometimes this duct tape would work. The smoke would go away. I would get some questions about my car like, “Hey, how’s your car doing… I see you added some decorations to it.” or “What in the actual.... Why is there duct tape on your car.”

I would explain to them that my car is "doing fine." There’s nothing wrong with my car...I just wanted to cover up some problems on the inside of my car…

Now if you haven’t caught onto the analogy that I’m getting at… I am about to explain.

The only thing that I solved by putting duct tape on my car is the following: no one else could see the internal issue because I fixed it with an external solution.

*Cue "dannnnnngggg!"

Deep, right?

Sometimes in life...

I feel like that car.

I’m going to recap some things I wrote on purpose and then relate them super quick.

1. The mere name of Honda, carries greatness with it.
2. There was a price that had to be paid for that car.
3. Paying that price of the car did not mean that the car was automatically problem-free.
4. I was able to identify major problems very quickly after the car was purchased.
5. Because i didn't solve the smaller issues while they were still small, they became larger issues in the long run.
6. I tried to solve the internal issues of my car by fixing the external appearance.

Relating this to life:

1. I come from a family that the name Anderson or Kenoyer, means a lot. My Grandpa is a pastor at my church, my dad is a deacon, a small group leader, and also (obviously) married the pastor's daughter. My mom is (obviously) a pastor's daughter and has grown up in the church. My great-grandfather was a missionary overseas as a doctor. (Now this is not bad at all. I am just stating how it is for me. When I would go to church, people knew who I was, not because of me specifically, but because of the name that I represented.)
2. That car had to be bought with a price. For me, my life was bought at the price of another man's death. That death gave me an opportunity to enter into heaven by simply believing that God sent his son to die for all of my broken pieces.
3. Just because that price was paid for my life, it doesn't mean that I accepted that price, and that now I am problem-free and that life is all hunky-dory.
4. Often times, we can identify major problems in our life but instead of addressing them on the spot…
5. The smaller problems in my life would soon grow to be bigger and bigger problems until other people could soon identify those problems in my life.
6. I tried time after time to "duct tape" my life. I tried to cover up the issues in my life.

So here's the question that I have for everyone still reading this article…

What is that secret thing that you know is an issue in your heart or life? The one that you know is slowly it is eating away at you? What is it solving by covering it up and not addressing it?

Oftentimes there are minor issues that become major issues in our life. We decide it's best to just cover them up. But what does that accomplish? Are the internal issues in you "car" fixed just because you solved them with an external solution? NO! The internal issue is still there and unless you fix it, it is still a problem.

What I ended up doing is having a mechanic look into the issue inside my "car." What I needed to do was have someone that knows my car, how I work, what I need, and give it a professional analysis. For some of you, you know exactly who that is. Who that "mechanic" is. He or she is the person that, no matter what, you can talk to about the paint chipping off of your car, the tear in your seats, the smoke coming out of your hood, the blown speaker, the broken speedometer, the jacked up AC, and THEY KNOW THE SOLUTION. For me, my mechanic is God. Sometimes my car is in the shop for a long time because I'm stubborn and don't want to go through the lengthy process of fixing it. Sometimes my mechanic will use one of his employees to tell me… “Hey man, your car is all kinds of jacked up and I want to help you understand how we can work on it for you.” But nonetheless, my mechanic knows how to work my car. Heck , he made the car in the first place, so it only makes sense that he knows how to fix it in his own time.

Here's a challenge for you. Take this week and try to identify a few things that need to be looked at by a mechanic in your life. Whether we share a mechanic or not is a story i would love for you to ask me about if you have any questions.

As for my fellow broken cars...

What are some things that are broken and why are you covering them up with duct tape?

Is it comparison with the guy that seems to be perfect for every girl with his long flowing hair and perfect beard?

Is it jealousy that she's now his girl and so you cover it up with a fake smile?

Is it anger that so-and-so called you ugly and they covered it up by saying it was just a joke?

It is depression that nobody knows about and you cover up because you would look weak in front of others?

Is it self harm that you cover up with bracelets so nobody knows that you feel alone?

Is it overeating that you cover up by saying you will work out later?

Is it binge watching netflix to cover up the severe anxiety you experience at college?

Is it constantly going back to that same stupid girl who doesn't want a relationship with you just because you are scared to be lonely even though you deserve something way better than a girl who never appreciates you…?

Is it always acting tough to cover up the fact that you are weak on the inside?

Is it seeming like you have it all together to cover up that secret sin that you don’t want anyone to find out about?

You know who you are and what it is that you are duct taping. We all experience it.

I could go on and on… but now it is your turn.

What is the issue… and why are you covering it up?

- Isaac Anderson