Leaving the Path

Amen! It's Friday evening, and all's well!



Well, that is besides my baby girl coughing continually and sporting a fever. These are always the moments when you wish you could take the fever and cough upon yourself only to see your child bounce back! I'm sure Cliff would NOT want that, for a mommy out-of-commission is always harder on the spouse. But that's what mommys' hearts do: wish to spare their little ones from any pain or suffering when it comes to their health.



As you get to know me through these emails, you will always notice that I call my 6 and 4 year olds my "little ones" or my "babies." And when they are 10 and 12, much to their chagrin, I will most likely still call them my "babies."



There is something tender about seeing your not-so-babies still as your babies. It makes a verbal connection between that little one in utero and all the dreams you had for them, and the dirty, lanky, ready-to-lose-his-front-to-teeth, freckled covered kid standing in front of you! Personally, I need that connection! I tend to have short long-term memory! I remember the now, and maybe even the recent, but 6 years ago is a much more dim.



So, tonight, as you gather your family from the frantic pace of the week, hug your babies. Whether they're 29, 14, 10, 4, or 5 months. Hug them, cuddle them, and let them know you love them no matter what. Unconditionally love them, so that they will understand the love He has for them. A love that would take a cold away if it could; a love that would follow them to the ends of the earth to save them from themselves; a love that would allow them to experience consequences so they know better next time; a love that would grow them into the human beings He created them to be; and a love that ultimately is an example of His love for them.



Proverbs 5



3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.s
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn't realize it.

I really want to focus on v. 6, but you can't read verse 6 without the other 3 preceeding iprecedinge're back to the immoral woman (yes, it's been a month!!), but I wanted to look at her from a different perspective than we did last month.



Yesterday, we talked about the path of righteous shining like "the first gleam of dawn" in Proverbs 4:18. Yet here we are today talking about a woman of a complete opposite persuasion, one that we'd classify as a general fool:



"For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn't realize it."



What visuals does this create in your mind? How do you picture her? And what kind of feelings do you have towards her?



For me, she's a lost soul. She has no idea what she's missing in the depths of her soul, so she tries to fill the voids with men, alcohol (hence the staggering), cheap thrills, and bad high heels! I see her walking the streets looking for her next trick throwing random compliments out at the ugliest of men just hoping for someone to notice her. And I see her lonely, filling her time with strangers who don't know her...but only know her in the "biblical sense." How ironic is that?



But she has lived this life for so long, she has forgotten what the purpose of her existence is, "for she cares nothing about the path to life." Maybe she's on a suicide mission, just slowly. Maybe she's trying to numb the soul that begs to be searched. Maybe she's getting "love" (which we know is NOT love) the only way she knows. Maybe she has become so jaded, so hurt, so unloved, that her bitterness has not only consumed her, but has turned her into a predator who tempts and consumes others on the road to moral and spiritual destruction.



Maybe I should stop watching TV! This is pretty vivid!



So, what does this have to do with me and you?



I think there are times when we stray from His path of righteousness, in areas where we each personally struggle. Whether it's your thoughts, your words, your anger, your jealousy, your self-esteem, your need to be in control, your past, your relationships, your sin, whatever it may be, leaving the well-worn path of the Lord and following the "crooked trail" always looks the same:



-Rugged: It is always rocky, overgrown, filled sharp points with hidden dangers. There is no way to predict what will happen, or proceed with certainty and assurance that you will survive this. You may have faith in your own skills, but in the end, it will not be enough.



-Steep: It doesn't always start steep. It may just seem like an easier way down than following the obvious path. But as soon as you navigate it yourself, you will realize the degree of decline drops drastically and is dangerously slippery. What you once thought you could handle, you now realize is sucking you down like gravity.



-Overgrown: You may think you can make your way through the forest. But as you continue deeper into it away from the beaten path, the forest grows thicker and thicker, almost suffocating. You will end up disoriented, lost, and without guidance.



-Unexpected: Once you think you know what's up ahead, you will find that the reality can be even worse than what you expected. You thought your skills, knowledge, and forest cutting know-how would get you through, but too many variables are now being thrown at you...a steep ravine, a rushing river, poison ivy, a rain storm, a bear. You name it, it can happen. For you have left yourself open to the dangers of the wild.



-Uncharted: No other person has walked this trail...and those who have never returned. You are alone. You are lonely. There is nobody to help you through the dangers, and eventually your brain will convince you that what you are seeing is not the truth. All of a sudden right becomes wrong, and wrong becomes right, all to justify the decisions you are having to make.



And as we wander off His path, we have to convince ourselves that leaving His way is better, easier, quicker, more self-serving, more beneficial, less harmful, causing less conflict than pursuing truth. We may use the following excuses to make our decisions justifiable:



1. Survival: "I had to" in order to preserve myself: my own being, health, pride, worth, reputation, arrogance, perceived integrity, etc.



2. Victim: I had no other choice, I was forced by someone else.



3. Revenge: I had to fight back and make my own way.



4. Peer Pressure: I lack self-awareness and conviction. Others are doing it, so I did it. Others are suffering from it, so am I.



5. Rebellion: I know what is right, but I turned my back because I no longer cared.



6. Foolish: Grass is greener on the other path...until you get to that path and realize you have been fooled.



Ladies...these excuses can apply to anyone struggling with choosing the Lord's path. Look at your children. Look at your friends. Look at your extended families. Look at your hubby. But most of all, look at yourselves. That crooked trail is not very far from any of us. The immoral woman who blatently walks it could easily be any of us, staring with the dimness in our hearts, then manifesting in our words and actions, in a quick instance if we turn our back on Him.



Fortunately, for us, that love that we have for our children, that love that will take the place of them when they're feverish, is the love the Lord has for us, but even greater. His love will rescue us when we're clutching a rock by the tips of our fingers staring down at a rocky ravine below with no one else to save us. When we get ourselves in that predicament on our own, He WILL still seek and save us...



My precious friends, love those around you! Choose His path. Turn your back on the crooked trail. And receive His love!



Have an amazing weekend!