Round 12

Good afternoon!

I am going to sound like a broken record in what I am sharing this week, but you'll understand when you here of our ongoing saga...

The mouse is baaaaack!

You may remember a few months back in my blog, "It's On!", the story of the mouse that we couldn't catch in our garage. Since that time, we had caught two mice in the garage. I thought that would be the end of the story. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks back I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye by one of the bathrooms in our home (the kids' bathroom, no less). Wouldn't you know, a mouse was running rampant, but this time it is in our house!

We laid some more traps and got some of those pulsating deterrents you plug into your wall sockets and we didn't see the mouse again for a couple of weeks. Until yesterday. It was back and I am tired of it messing with my mind!

It is one thing that the mouse was out in our garage, it is a whole other story now that the mouse is in our house.

I was reflecting on this situation again this morning. Who would have known that a tiny rodent would bring so much spiritual reflection to my life? Is God trying to tell me something? I shutter at the thought.

I think about my own life and how sin enters my life. I think about those things that tempt me and in their own subtle ways remind me that they are around. At first, these temptations stay out in the garage of my life. Every now and then they appear. I focus on them and then try to get rid of them. However, if I don't completely take care of the temptation and those things that cause me to stumble, eventually they move in to the home of my heart. They run around unnoticed, nibbling and hiding in the deep recesses of my heart. Now, when I am at home and comfortable, they come peering at me, inviting me to turn my attention, my energy, towards them.

After chasing it around a bit, I realize that I need to get rid of this temptation, this stumbling block that has taken up residence in my life. I set out traps to try and kill it. I tempt the tempter and try to chase it out of my heart home, but still, I struggle.

How do you get rid of these temptations and stumbling blocks in life? I want to, but once I think it's gone, there it is staring back at me again. It's like going round after round in a boxing match, with no end in site. I'm tired, but I won't give up. It's Round 12 and if I don't get a knock out, I may get leveled myself.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this very struggle we all have. Listen to what he says in Romans 7:14-25 (The Message translation):

"I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."

May those last two verses give you hope, as it gives me hope. That in this life of contradictions, the answer is always JESUS CHRIST!

"Gracious God. Forgive me for opening myself up to allowing sin to take up residence in my life. Forgive me for enjoying it. Take away any sense of guilt and make right my life which I give to You. I want to serve You. I want to worship You. I want to live my life fully for You. Remind me that it is not my job to take away the temptation. It is my job to allow you to defeat it and remove it from my life. I am willing. This round is Yours. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."