How Did I End Up Right Where I Started?

Submitted by Lara Cook
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 NIV

Have you ever gotten yourself out of a place only to end up right back in the same place you were?  Cycles of sin are so easy to get swept into and yet, just like trying to swim against the current, they are so very hard to get out of - and stay out of.

Sometimes in life, we have to shake things up, to rock the boat and make waves because that is what God is calling us to do.  However, don’t expect everyone around you to be happy or understand why you are doing it. Like Brother Van said, to be walking with the Lord almost always guarantees you will be out of step with the world.  Sometimes we have to give the hard answer, say the hard things and do the hard things which will make some people unhappy with us…even other Christians in our lives. Christians are not exempt from Satan’s deception. Satan preys on Christians and their weakness.  He makes it easy for us to get involved in something wrong and then trap us there, or at least make us think we are trapped.  Here are some ways that Satan traps us in our sin:

• Shame – He likes it when we are ashamed, especially when it keeps us from coming before God and asking for forgiveness and restoration.  He makes us believe that we are ruined and we can never be good enough for God to love or want or use again.  He also wants us to feel that we have no right to call on God for help or stand up to someone or say anything because we are so sinful and worth less.  All are lies from Satan!  God loves us no matter what and He forgives and hears when we call on His name, no matter where we call from.  
• Pressure – We often feel pressure from others to do things or be something we don’t want to be. It is easy to cave into that pressure when we give hard answers or say no and then feel the backlash.  Things start to unravel and we quickly grab the threads and start tying knots to stop it by backtracking through what we did that caused the upheaval.  Even if it was the right thing to do, we quickly do everything we can to quiet the situation and make everyone happy again.   
• Circumstances – Our circumstances can sometimes keep us involved in cycles of sin. Change is required to stop something in our lives and go a different direction.  Sometimes it is hard to get out of these cycles without monetary help or support of family and oftentimes that is just not available.  A move, a job change that means less money, a new school for our children, all these can be reasons that may stop us in our tracks and cause us to go backward.   

All these are reasons that Satan uses to keep us where he wants us to be and where we are less useful for the kingdom of God.  He wants us to feel trapped, worthless and helpless.  You can break free with God’s help.  Stop the cycle and quit backtracking today.  Go forward in the direction God is leading and don’t look back.      

Scripture to Claim:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31