Pot holes

We have all hit them, and no one likes them, but it is inevitable that we may experience them on the road and through life. Last evening, a minister from my church, Steven Sessions, made an analogy I had to share with my blog readers. He said there are two paths in life, either God's path or the enemy's path. With the enemy's path, it looks good, but is deceiving or as he put it, is filled with pot holes. God's path is more challenging, naturally, however, we have the Lord to go before us on our behalf and fill in the pot holes before we are affected by them. He also mentioned, that as we live day by day, we are unaware of how our Lord has kept us safe and from evil. I share these things as to say, as we continue to have life, we are very fortunate. We must realize that some people today perhaps woke up, but wont finish out the day. It is imperative that we regularly engage with our Lord, and reverence him. To further illustrate I will share a true story I came across on the web.. No names will be shared to protect the guilty... From the day we married, I suspected that perhaps I had rushed into it. Almost immediately my husband began to change, and I felt lonely and trapped. My parents had insisted on a lavish wedding that left them paying for nearly 6 months after the event. Everything at the service was top of the line and elegant. Even on my honeymoon, the nights were filled with strife and unanswered questions. As a Christian, I resolved to sort through my marriage, as I had always been taught, even though my heart was questioning if I had done the right thing. Always amiss, I could come and go as I pleased, my husband always preoccupied with T.V or sleeping. He never minded my whereabouts.... One day I met him, and I loved him immediately. I wondered if he was truly my soulmate, and that the timing was just wrong. He too was smitten with me. I was caught in the crossfire. My husband had no clue I had been entertaining another man, but the other man was uncomfortable with my situation... claiming that he wanted to be free to have our own relationship, without boundaries. For weeks I cried, had sleepless nights and tortured myself with loads of "what ifs" and "what should I do". My heart warred against my faith, understanding that God was able, and that he never directs you to start something, and then not finish [my marriage]. But I loved the man so much... I knew I would never meet another like him, as special, unique people are a rarity in this day. I was unsure of what would happen in the event that I left my husband, would the other man still want me? would he be able to trust me? And what about the kind of seeds that beginning a relationship on that premise would reap? I considered how many people do this very thing, and appear to get away with it, and wondered if we too could just live happier ever after. However, I knew that my success in the kingdom, depended heavily on the one I had already wed, and that leaving one man for another had serious realistic and spiritual ramifications... After only a few weeks of the tryst, the other man concluded it, telling me he couldn't handle it. He too was a Christian, and could not rest easy being in the midst of the mess.He went on to marry the next woman he dated. As for me, I struggled for a long time with the feelings that I had developed for him, Although my husband noticed my distance and tried to improve things, I was very unavailable to him. I prayed and ask God, why the other man had come to me, and for what purpose, and he answered me one day, so clearly, I have to share with whomever comes across this..... The Lord told me that I had chosen a battle that i didn't need to fight, and that this lesson would teach me not to entertain another man, over working at my marriage to improve it.    This story goes along with the analogy so well because sometimes we put ourselves in terrible situations and wonder why it has befallen us, but if we would have been wise in the first place, we could have avoided unnecessary pain. In the case of the mystery wife, instead of turning the other man away when they initially crossed paths, she proceeded, which resulted in stress and emotional pain as she wondered which man to choose. Her faith told her to sustain her marriage, while her flesh longed for the other man. Such situations are common, but avoid them by being wise and standing on faith.....