setting traps
“Please close the drawers when you’re not using them,” I reminded her for the hundredth time, and I’m not exaggerating.
My children have a knack for leaving drawers and cabinets open and tossing items on the floor, constantly setting little booby-traps for themselves. It never fails they end up running into the open drawer or tripping over the assorted items at a later point, only to inflict some sort of pain on their little bodies. Scratches, bruises, and cuts that could have been avoided had they simply put things back in their original state or place of belonging.
Do you set booby-traps for yourself? Maybe you don’t leave items strewn across your floor or drawers wide open but you’ve got little messes in the corners of your heart that you keep ignoring.
Maybe it’s unforgiveness that has allowed bitterness to grow. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Really. I’m over it.” But you’re not. You keep running past it, pretending everything is fine until you turn the corner one day and find yourself trapped in pain, hurt, and anger when you least expected it.
Or maybe it’s jealousy. The feeling started out as a small mess, but it didn’t stay that way. If it had been picked up and tossed away early on, it wouldn’t be eating away at you now. But as the jealousy grows and multiplies, you find yourself trapped in constant dissatisfaction and irritation.
Or maybe it’s that addiction. The door was left wide open. It should’ve been shut a long time ago, but it was convenient. Plus you didn’t really think you’d open it all that often or for so long anyway. But then one day, you find yourself wandering right back through it, trapped in shame, regret, and humiliation. A situation that could have been avoided had you shut that door for good.
We all have a knack for unintentionally booby-trapping our lives. We don’t desire hurt or dissatisfaction or shame and yet we allow it space in the corners of our hearts, and it waits to trip us up. Quickly, those little messes we avoid morph into huge issues. But the messes won’t clean themselves. The doors and drawers won’t shut on their own. We might have some work cut out for us, but we don’t have to do it alone.
“I lift my eyes up to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” – Psalm 121:1-2
The unforgiveness, jealousy, addiction, you don’t have to sort through the mess on your own. You have help if you’ll ask for it. And as you both work through it together, removing one trap after another, you’ll find forgiveness to replace unforgiveness. Gratitude to replace jealousy. Healing to replace addiction. And you’ll experience freedom. No longer will you struggle in the traps. Rather, you will walk in the light and love of Christ because “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
