Traps

by

Pastor B.J. Knefley

The other night I walked into the bedroom at my daughter’s house and found my dog on the bed with something between her front paws. After closer review and to my horror I found that she’d found a glue mouse trap and it was stuck to her feet and the bed. Thankfully she didn’t have it stuck to her face as well. As I went to work freeing her, I also became entangled in the sticky mess. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled, but it did make me think.

There are many traps in life that can ingulf us in a mountain of trouble and heartache that we never saw coming. Like the glue trap, they can stick to every part of our life and have a devastating effect upon everyone we associate with, both family and friends. That seemingly little indiscretion, that one more drink, or a simple decision that changes the course of our life forever. They each can and will have lasting and profound effects.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is heard mumbling, “Out damn spot, out”, but the problem is she has spilled blood and it won’t come out. Like glue it sticks to her hands to torment and accuse. No amount of washing will change it, the memory and consequences follow her for a lifetime. And so it goes. A little poor choice here, a little there and soon we’re caught up in something that we can’t be separated from.

I’d like to say that I’ve lived a perfect life, but I haven’t. I have made many choices that I regret today. I can’t go back and change them and some, like the glue, are still stuck to me and I can’t get rid of them. But I have learned that they can be redeemed if you let them. When I read the Scriptures, I find many of God’s people who did terrible things, yet God still used them. Why? Simply because they weren’t defined by what they did, but rather by who God is. Saint Paul said that “all things work together for those who are called by God and according to His purpose”, (Romans 8:28). Sometimes the simple solution to dealing with the glue that’s got you stuck is to simply lean into God. He has a way of getting us unstuck. Think about it.