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Tripping Hazards

This post inspired by Oswald Chambers' writing in My Utmost For His Highest from January 24.

The Lord told Paul, after his conversion, that He had appeared to Paul for a purpose.  That purpose was that Paul be a witness of what he had seen and of what God would reveal to him (Acts 26:26).

I remember as a young boy making the decision to make Jesus the Lord of my life.  The influence of my environment, those who spoke into me, and the dreams that God planted in my own heart pointed me in one direction: full time ministry.  In my late high school years, I made poor choices, acted on sinful desires, and separated myself from God through my own choices.  The desire for full time ministry still lingered in my heart, but my decisions created an obstacle in my path to that realization.  

As a parent of small children, I am used to seeing every parent's worst nightmare: a Lego on the floor.  Legos, despite their typically minuscule size and plastic design, are actually weapons of mass destruction for all of humankind.  Whether they are consumed or simply left on the floor for an unsuspecting foot, they can cause incredible damage, often damage that extends far beyond the initial impact as a tumbling 6' 1" man, writhing in pain, proceeds to knock pictures off the wall, remove books from shelves, and crash onto an unsuspecting coffee table as the leaning tower of daddy comes to a crashing conclusion.  Disclaimer: this has never actually happened, but it paints a pretty picture.

Tripping hazards are not just Legos on the floor of our lives, placed randomly around for us to stumble on or swerve in a desire to avoid.  Tripping hazards are a valiant attempt by Satan to deter and distract us from the vision that He placed in our hearts from the moment we called Him Lord and Savior.

I have known many Christians that, at one point or another, captured a God-implanted vision of what their life could hold because He was in it.  I have listened to them share dreams, and in an almost giddy fashion, anticipate what the realization of these things would one day be. 

The we hit a Lego on the floor.  Then we stumble in sin.  We get caught up in the sin of sexual immorality.  We get trapped in the sin of selfishness.  We become sidetracked by the sin of greed or lust or hate.  Regardless of what the hazard is, we, in our sinful nature, are often drawn to it.  We find ourselves unable to resist the allure of the bright lights, and before long, we find ourselves off the mark.  We find ourselves tripped up.  We find ourselves on the floor, wondering how we got there and why God would allow this to happen to us.

As a parent I have learned two very important tricks when it comes to navigating our home.  First, when attempting to navigate a bedroom in the still of the night, when I am unsure of where what toys might be placed, it is prudent to move slowly, small steps, and to keep my hands out in front and to my sides.  This allows for early detection of unforeseen hazards.  The other is to simply turn on the lights and look.

There are times when we are going to find ourselves in situations that are a little dark.  We aren't going to know what's around each corner or what hazards the Enemy has put in play.  Slow down.  Make sure your steps are small and thought through.  Keep your sense of awareness about you.  Use your "feelers" to determine if there is something that Satan is trying to throw your way.  Don't be tripped up by a hazard you could have avoided.  And, if at all possible, simply shed the light of God's wisdom on the whole situation and let sin be seen as sin.  Let the reality of the situation become abundantly clear through the eyes of God.

As a Christian, our aim should be to avoid sin.  This comes through the strength of our personal relationship with God and through obedience to Him.  Yet, the Enemy gets through from time to time, and when it does happen, let's be sure to be as ready as possible.  Don't allow Satan's attacks to steal the joy and vision that is planted in us because of our love for God.  Don't forget your purpose.

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