Choose Another Path
By Christa Cottam
"As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” Proverbs 26:11
It wasn’t the first time I'd caved in to temptation, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. I continually ran into the same enticements. Some days I was able to resist, and others I failed miserably.
I knew I’d never escape this hamster-wheel without God’s help.
I love to run outdoors. But I don’t love the summer-time bugs—like swarms of them! Jogging one morning, I neared an area where I’d ingested a mouthful of gnats a few days earlier. I tossed out a lighthearted prayer—more of a thought than a genuine plea: “God, please don’t let there be gnats today.” Instantly, He spoke three simple words: choose another path.
My breath caught.
I knew God wasn’t talking about gnats. He was asking me to think about the temptations I repeatedly encountered. How could I experience a different outcome if I didn’t choose to think and behave differently?
Today’s verse says, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.”
Blunt? Yes. But true. I was a simpleton to think walking the same paths each day wouldn’t lead to the same shame and frustration.
I wanted God’s strength to help me face my temptations, but in reality, I needed His strength to turn away from them.
Sometimes the hardest thing isn’t simply enduring your condition but deciding to change it.
For me that meant changing what I watched, read, and listened to. It meant spending more time in the Bible. It meant grabbing hold of my negative thought patterns and forcing my mind to submit to Jesus.
Do you keep running into the same struggles? Perhaps it's time to choose another path; one God has created specifically for you.
Christa Cottam, a Wholly Loved Ministries’speaker and worship leader, is a spunky woman with a fire in her belly to tell others about Jesus—how He brought her from being held down by a past filled with shame, guilt and unforgiveness to embrace God’s love and ultimately find freedom to be the person He created her to be. She is passionate about encouraging women to go deeper in their relationship with God. Christa also uses her gifts in the arts and leadership to make kingdom impact at her church, serving as a worship leader and volunteering in women’s ministry.
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Originally published Friday, 19 May 2023.
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