And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
(Mat 5:30 NLT)
Jesus said this and still Christians wonder why bad things happen to good people, is it possible that “bad things” happen to keep God’s children on the straight and narrow? I have seen many times where someone who belongs to God by confessing Him as Lord and Savior and who sincerely love Him start down the path of pride, unforgiveness, bitterness, etc. only to have their attention refocused after going through a difficulty which required them to let go of the sin they were holding onto so that the desperate situation they were going through didn’t overtake them. I have no doubt God will use whatever means necessary to get our attention. Of course this only happens after we repeatedly choose to not listen to the moving of His Holy Spirit.
If the sin in this Christians life also breaks the law then God may choose to reach that person through jail; God does not promise to keep us isolated from the consequences of our own choices what gave us such an idea? The difficulty God uses is not as important as the end result and we, His children, have a choice. This gift of choice will not be taken from us even if it means we are eternally separated from God. We can choose to trust Him and obey or we can dive deeper into the desires of our own flesh. This is not to say there won’t be struggles between one’s flesh and spirit and sometimes it will even appear that the flesh has won. Remember even Christ Jesus was tempted but never sinned. So being tempted is not wrong but yielding to it is. You should also remember God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs just don’t think His grace means you have a free ticket to act however you want. You are a representative of the character of God and along with that are God’s laws and precepts given to us through His Word.
If you are caught in an addiction rest assured God knows your struggles and He even understands why you are uniquely addicted to this sin that so easily besets you but that does not mean you are shielded from the consequences that follow. You who struggle know how many times God’s still small voice has spoken to you right before you made the decision to do wrong and it is this small still voice that will lead us out of our addictions, if we listen and obey. Sadly, for many it takes a tragedy and being brought to a place of desperation before we are willing to listen, no one wants to go there but so many lack the strength to obey until they understand that their choice has great costs associated with it. That is why Jesus said it is better to lose your eye or hand than not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Unfortunately we would also have to lose our thoughts and memories but the point is made very clear, the temporary does not hold value over the eternal.
In all things be thankful, even when you have hit bottom and there is no place to look but up. Above all understand that God loves us beyond what we ourselves can understand and He will do anything to bring us to the point of preparation so that we are ready to live with Him for all eternity and still it is our choice. Yes, God is holy and holiness requires that we be holy and if this shell, this home where our spirits currently abide must be put through difficulties so that our spirits are awaken to the eternal then so be it. God will not give you more than you can handle, that is true but He will crash through the limits you have previously put on yourself so that you can be what He intended but you must trust that He is good and all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
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