February 28, 2016

What Are You Doing?

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. -- Romans 21:25

The other night fierce storms ripped through our area. We were so blessed that the storms only resulted in damage and no loss of life. Other areas weren’t so fortunate.

Those blessings certainly didn’t remove the stupid (I’m sorry, but there is no other way to describe it.) from some people. The storms downed power lines, washed out roads, and basically made travel in some areas hazardous. City crews put up barricades to block some roads and keep people safe. Naturally, someone had to go around a barricade and drive his car right into one of those washed out areas on a road. The photos showed the car nose down in the mud, with its rear end sticking up in the air. Seriously?! Those barricades are there for a reason!

While the storm was still raging, one weather forecaster noted the messages coming in from people in other parts of the state. It seems that some folks thought the predictions of dire weather were overreaction on the part of the weather forecasters. As he noted, please tell that to the poor folks in Pensacola that had just been hit by a tornado. And tell that to the folks in Southeast Alabama who were at that moment experiencing a tornado on the ground. Because they were blessed not to suffer through tornadoes, I guess they didn’t see the need to worry and couldn’t understand that it could easily have shifted to their area.

We tend to be a little short sighted, don’t we? We see what we want right now and don’t stop to work through the ramifications of it. That’s the way of sin. It entices us to believe we want something without telling us the cost. Like that man who drove around a barricade without realizing it would cost him a vehicle and a great deal of grief.

We know how we are supposed to live our lives. We do. We’ve got a manual called The Bible to teach us. We’ve got the Holy Spirit living inside of us to guide us, and we still take wrong turns. It is so comforting to know that the Apostle Paul suffered in the same way.

What to do? Spend time each day in the Word and in prayer. Stop and pray before you plunge into something. And give thanks for all your blessings. God is ever present with us. When we ask for wisdom, He is gracious and kind and will give it to us. We don’t have to navigate this life alone. So don’t.