Avoid the Pits

Have you ever watched one of those children’s programs with the obstacle courses and the slime? The contestant is about to take their last move, and out of nowhere, a foam spinner knocks them off balance and down a slide covered in slime. The competitor is not out, but they must climb back up the slimy slide to begin again. Sin is a lot like that. We drag our wretched selves out of a pit of muck (which is not an easy feat), and just when it seems like smooth sailing, we get hit upside the head by something. It sends us right back into that pit of sin. After all the hard work and self-control we mustered to put our flesh in check, we backslid down that slippery slope. Have you found yourself backslidden and wondering how it happened? I almost did it this week. I thank God that I realized what was happening before the final blow.

So, you can find some hope in your situations; I wanted to note that the Apostle Paul also found himself in similar conundrums. “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, I do what I hate,” Romans 7:15. So, maybe we can break the patterns of sin in our lives when we recognize how they begin.

I certainly don’t highlight myself because of my perfection. Instead, I use my own stories to illustrate how the Holy Spirit of God can teach a sinful woman, like me, a lesson within her ordinary life; if He can teach me, then He can certainly do the same for you.

I had been working on inputting our finances into an online software to fill out our taxes. I should probably hire an accountant for such a job. I’m not a numbers girl. I managed to list an income form in two separate locations, and the software estimated our taxes to be paid at almost three times as much as the year before. WHAT? I was mentally spiraling. I probably should have taken a breather and sent up a prayer. No, my mind was already trying to figure out how to pay the taxes. In my freak-out mode, I told my bearded brute that I could potentially finagle the numbers in my income by deleting the cash that I took in.

Now, I am not pointing the finger at you cash-stashers. This story is about me. Through much thought and prayer, I had concluded that my hiding cash from the government was wrong. I based my decision on Romans 13:1-7. I’m not here to argue this particular point. I just want you to understand my position. I put my faith in God that I would obey His Word and that He would bless me and my finances. I paid tax on my cash for many years now and never thought about doing it any different; until now. That foam block was flying at my head; I was about to slip back into the pit I had climbed out of many years before.

Guess what happened? I overheard someone else telling her tax story. She said that the government had already taken too much money (I’m sure we all agree with that on some level). She said, “I never claim my cash or checks, but it doesn’t feel wrong to me.” That foam spinner whiffed my hair as it flung past my head. My mind stopped dead in its tracks. I silently repeated, “It doesn’t feel wrong,” over and over. It actually seemed like she was trying to convince herself. If it wasn’t wrong, why even make the statement? It was wrong, and she knew it. More importantly, I knew it. What on earth was I about to do? I had come out of that particular pit many years ago, and I almost slid right back into it! In all honesty, her affirmation could have been the icing on the cake. At that exact moment, I think I heard God clearing His throat, like a parent wanting their kid to stop and think before they do or say something stupid.

I’m not writing to convict you about your tax habits. If God wants to convict you, He will. I am just reminding you not to slip back into old pits of sin. You have worked too hard to get out of that muck. So don’t slide back in.