Are You Your Worst Enemy?

Are you your worst enemy? When you look back on the path that has led to your current circumstances, is it one that is marred by poor decisions made only by you? Or, is the story of your life brightened by Spirit-led choices that have elevated you to a good place?  I’m a bit of both. I’ve had my fair share of lemons notably because I excluded God from my decisions and opted to do it my way. When my choices put me in a sour place, God, through His grace, took my lemons and made lemonade. When I think of the wasted time I could have saved and the trials I could have avoided by first going to God in prayer, and waiting on His good timing, I have deep regrets and am left singing my shoulda- coulda-wouldas.

While our trials tend to originate from Satan’s attacks or God’s many tests, for many of us, our adversities are self inflicted because we exclude God from the details of our life.  When we do this and are disgruntled with our lives, we only have ourselves to blame (Gal, 6:7 – for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap).

The good news is this: as many times as we may back ourselves into a corner, God is faithful to pull us though when we seek His forgiveness and return under His guidance.   While the consequences of our sin/poor choices are not always removed, when we turn to God for help, He uses our missteps to propel us in the right direction (Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”).  More importantly, He uses our failures to teach us the importance and the blessing of obedience.

Psalm 119: 65-67: “Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord.  Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.  Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.”

The lesson for us is to ALWAYS live in total surrender to God’s will and to seek His guidance in everything we do.  Nothing in our life is trivial to God. He cares about everything we do and He wants to be involved. We have a friend in Him and when we sincerely trust His friendship, we stifle the enemy within that dares us to do it our way.