It Couldn’t Happen To Me!
The most dangerous misperception a Christian can have is “it couldn’t happen to me.” This blog could be filled with a year of posts of people I found myself counseling over the past several years who found themselves totally out of fellowship with the Lord. Maybe still active in church or even serving as a Christian leader yet Isaiah 59:2 says “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
The list of issues is endless but a few on my mind:
- Sex outside of marriage
- Addictions
- Insurmountable Debt (the kind not from unemployment but excessive spending)
- Divorce
- Broken Relationships (not resolved because of unresolved anger, unforgiveness or pride)
The reaction of surprise that most women express when they experience adultery or another sin that destroys lives is much like what happened to me when I was about 4 years old. My mother was cleaning and had a bath tub filled with water she was mopping from. She instructed me not to touch the water and left the room with her mop. She returns to find my feet and lower legs wet with the dirty water. When she asked why I had disobeyed her I responded “I was just walking by and my feet jumped in the water.”
My desire is not to simplify the deep issues that tempt us to fall into destructive decisions but I want to tell you that it all starts with what seems like a little thing…not spending personal time with the Lord. We miss a day and no one notices. We miss a second day and then another until we tell ourselves we don’t have time. I agree with Dr. Henry Blackaby who said “spending time with the Lord is not a scheduling problem but a love problem.” We seem to forget that he is the one our heart longs for. He is the only one who can meet the deep longings of our heart. But as we fall away it’s like the old song that says “looking for love in all the wrong places.”
It you are reading this post as a leader involved in ministry to others beware. You can direct a women’s ministry and even attract lots of numbers, but your house is being built upon the sand not the rock. Eventually you will come crashing down in one way or another. Everything we do needs to be from an overflow of our personal walk with the Lord. The speed of the leader is always the speed of the gang. You reproduce what you are not what you say. I have done ministry in the flesh and there is such a huge difference.
My time with the Lord empowers me to do everything, even love my husband and children. How are you doing in your quiet time with the Lord? How is the Lord speaking to you thru the Word? Are you keeping short accounts with God and others? How is your passion for Christ? Are you struggling with this? Have you overcome this issue before? Would love to hear from you. It may help someone else who is where you once were.