Same Old Pits

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us…

Hebrews 12:1

Yesterday we focused on how sin crouches at our door desiring to have us. Today I want to take a deeper look. I recently decided to make a timeline of the seasons in which I stumbled into pits of sin. I marked them on a timeline with a dot, and then I decided to examine what was going on in my life right before I stumbled, in order to help me see any patterns. I thought that it would help me understand why I ended up in the same old pits. I don’t mind telling you that I learned something very interesting about myself. 

As I looked at that timeline, I noticed a pattern. Right before jumping into each pit of sin, I had wrestled with a deep wound of rejection. I realized that every time I had been emotionally wounded by rejection. And that wound sent me down the same path which landed me in the same pit. I recognized that each time I experienced that all-too-familiar wound of rejection; sin was always crouching at my door tempting to bring comfort to my pain (see Genesis 4:7). What a lie!

Today I want to encourage you to make a timeline and record any seasons with sin that you have encountered. Then look at each of those and evaluate any major wounds that may have happened in your life around the time. Perhaps it was the death of a loved one, or maybe you were abandoned by someone close to you. Maybe it was the loss of a close friendship or a job. Whatever it may be, record it on your timeline. Look to see if there are any patterns that you notice before you found yourself entangled in sin. Sin looks different for everyone. Some are inward struggles like anger or unforgivness. Others are more outwardly noticeable like alcohol or drug abuse.

Ask God to begin to reveal to you any patterns in your life that need to be uprooted so that you may be free of the sin that so easily entangles. I am tired of being entangled in the sticky web of sin, aren’t you? Let’s make freedom in Christ a reality!

Carrie Wright