Trials and tribulations happen to
the best of us. But if I can keep it real, most of the time, many of us end up
in messes of our own making. Which is why one of the things I find irritating,
frustrating, and sometimes comical, is how some Christians (and occasionally
non-Christians) retreat to the excuse that the “enemy” is attacking them or
that it’s the enemy’s fault that they’re going through what they’re going
through. But before you blame the enemy for your issues, let’s take some
inventory of your choices, shall we? I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve made plenty of dumb decisions. I mean, really
dumb. Stupid dumb. So dumb, that at the time I was convinced I was making sound
decisions only because I convinced
myself I was, even when there was so much evidence practically screaming, “What
in the world is wrong with you, stupid?” Now that I’ve shared that, dear
readers, please understand, it’s not the enemy’s fault when you do things like
overspend or mishandle financial provisions God’s blessed you with, irresponsibly
live beyond your means, recklessly handle credit cards, and end up in mounting
amounts of debt. It’s also not the enemy’s fault when you date, marry, or have
kids with a lousy significant other, who truthfully, in sooooo many ways,
likely showed you exactly who they were before you committed to them, but you
chose to ignore your instincts and those little red flags all of us are capable
of seeing, but instead, choose to overlook because we catch “feelings” for
someone or lust for them and call it love, and even worse, fail to check in
with God before committing to the person in the first place (because of our
egos and because we care more about what everyone else thinks, even when we
know deep down to our core the person we chose isn’t right for us) but we rebelliously
choose them anyway, and then, we blame the enemy. Because our choices are his
fault, right? But I want to lead you to deliverance on this day. I want to help
set you free and lovingly let you know, it’s
not the devil, it’s probably you. Some of what you’re going through are
consequences from decisions you made. Take responsibility for your choices.
Stop blaming everyone else. Stop blaming the enemy. And take a long, hard look
in the mirror and reevaluate the choices that got you into the messes you’re in
or have been in. It won’t be easy. I know. I too have had to look at myself and
a number of stupid things I’ve done and intentionally decide to make better
choices. Romans 8:28 reads, “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.” God
can still help us recover from our bad choices, but at some point, I believe He
allows us to sit in our messes for a season until we finally “get it.”
Sometimes, we give the enemy far too much credit. It’s time to grow up.
About a year ago, I had a dream my dad wanted to talk to our family about something serious. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss, but I knew it was something I needed to prepare myself for. Around the time after I had this dream, I remember stopping by my parents place and sensing something was going on that they weren’t telling me. I tried to dismiss what I’d been feeling, but I couldn’t shake it. Something serious was happening. As I returned to my home after visiting them one day, I was in my kitchen washing dishes when a heaviness hit my heart like nothing I’d ever felt before. Something’s wrong with dad. That’s what that dream was about. God, what’s going on? As I continued washing dishes, I started crying and praying. Then in mid-spring, my dad held an unexpected family meeting that would change all our lives forever. He hesitated at first, and as his voice started cracking and he started crying, he said, “Well, I wanted to talk to ya’ll to tell you that I have kidney disea...