This isn’t the OK Corral …

Being both the clown and the uncoordinated one of the group, my friend warned his buddy to be careful as they strapped on their holsters.

One of my best friends when I was a teen was getting ready to go target shooting in the Arizona desert with a couple of his buddies. It should be a fun and uneventful outing, something they had done together on several occasions. But their awkward friend was known to sometimes create problems with his carefree attitude.

Sure enough, they didn’t come back to the house safely. Instead, they went from the desert to the hospital.

The “clown” had failed to clear the leather of his holster while trying a quick draw and had shot himself in the foot!

He was the only person I’ve known to actually shoot himself in the foot with a gun. But I’ve met many who have done so, figuratively, with the choices they make in their lives.

Both as a pastor and counselor, I’ve spent time with many people struggling from a variety of challenges that “life” had thrown at them. But I’ve spent time with far more people who were in pain from the way they had crippled their own lives from their own bad decisions.

Choices to spend money they didn’t have.

Choices to cheat.

Choices to steal.

Choices to pretend.

Choices to lie.

Choices to start something they shouldn’t.

Choices to quit.

Choices to ignore.

Choices to fear.

Choices to do whatever they wanted.

Choices to disobey.

The outcome? By their disobedience to God, they shot themselves in the foot. They played fast and loose with life, and they wounded themselves (and often others) in the process.

Many of the very real problems we face in life are our own creation! When the truth is told, it wasn’t something someone else caused. It wasn’t just an accident. And the devil didn’t do it. We stepped away from God, made a bad decision on our own, and in the process we hurt ourselves.

James describes this “self-wounding” this way in James 1:14-15:

“Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Fortunately, there’s hope for us. God offers not only mercy, but grace to the “clowns” and awkward ones. When we come to the place where we’re willing to confess our bad choices (sin), God is ready to heal, to transform, and to give us a spirit of self-control.

He doesn’t just protect us from the enemy without, but also from the enemy within, “… our own desires.”

Choices left ungoverned by the will and Word of God will cause harm to ourselves and others. Are you submitting your desires and decisions to the will and direction of God? Or are you still playing fast and loose with your life?

Scotty