God and the Donut Shop

God and the Donut Shop

I know…strange title.  But this was a strange day.    I had been working through a Bible Study on gluttony.  I had a good morning.  I was tired from a long week without as much rest as I needed, but I was still feeling pretty good.  The study that morning was about how, when we continually look at our weaknesses, they get stronger.  But when we fix our eyes on Jesus and look to Him for our freedom, our weaknesses have less power over us.  “Good word” I thought.  “That’s what I’m going to do”, I thought.  Fast forward a couple of hours…the battle begins.  I wanted donuts, and I wanted them bad!  I’m not saying there is anything wrong with eating a donut every now and then.  But for me, with where I was in my health goals, it would be wrong for me to eat donuts.

God had given me direction, and eating donuts at that time in my life wasn’t part of His plan for me.  I couldn’t believe the war waging in my members.  And what happened to that good word?  It seemed to go out the window as I struggled with my desires and berated myself for even having those desires.

I was still fighting when I got in my car to run some errands.  And then, as if some alien took over the driving, I found myself turning into the shopping center where the donut shop was located.  As if in some kind of bizarre trance, I shut my mind down, got out of the car, and went into the donut shop.  Well, you can imagine what happened at that point.  There was no turning back.  The sights and smells were too much for me.  “its okay this time, I can start tomorrow” was the theme (lie?) going through my head.  So out the door I go with my donut(s) and my coffee, excited as a child with a new toy.  Getting ready to indulge my flesh in a big way, I turned the car on.  As I began stuffing my mouth full of these delectable round things, I turned on the radio.  It happened to be on the Christian radio station and the words coming out of the preacher’s mouth were these:

“God may shut a door because of your disobedience.  There is a window of opportunity for certain plans God has for your life, but if you persist in disobedience that window of opportunity will disappear and God will close that door to you forever”.

Now I could say it was a coincidence.  I could say that those words had nothing to do with my situation.  But my faith tells me different.  My faith tells me that God was sending me a clear message about the destiny He has for me in regards to my business and my coaching practice, and if I didn’t want the door to close on this opportunity He had given me, I better take a close look at any area of my life that He has “put His finger” on asking for my obedience.

Does He close doors because He’s mean?  Or is He waiting with a bat to beat us down when we mess up?  Of course not!  It’s because He loves us that He gives us these warnings, these admonitions, and His grace is there to enable us to say yes to Him if we will fix our eyes on Him!

So what area of your life is the “Esau” in you trying to destroy?  Losing your birthright for the sake of food (or drugs, or sex…you fill in the blank) isn’t too appealing is it?  Imagine yourself in the place God has called you to, and don’t let disobedience get in the way of your destiny!