Tripped Up

While presenting to a group of ladies the other day, I managed to catch the heel of my boot in the edge of a carpet square. Thankfully, I mustered enough grace to not launch myself head over heels into the display table and continued with my talk.

The raised corner of the carpet square was right where I needed to stand so I realized I had three choices: ignore it, acknowledge it, or repair it.

First I tried to ignore it. Maybe if I just walked away it wouldn’t be a problem. But as my talk went on, I found myself gravitating back to the same area and getting caught up again.

At that point, I decided to acknowledge it. With a joke, I brought the bothersome carpet square to the attention of the ladies in the room. I admitted that I kept getting my foot caught in it but still couldn’t seem to stay away from it. Though I knew full well it was there, I couldn't seem to avoid it.

I would have loved to have stopped everything and fix the offending carpet square. I poked at it with the tip of my boot but the curly edge popped back up in defiance. I knew I didn’t have the necessary tools to repair it permanently.

The carpet square reminds me of the sin in our lives. Being flawed humans, we all struggle with sin patterns. Ironically, we have the same choice to make: ignore it, acknowledge it, or repair it.

We both know ignoring a problem will never make it go away. If anything, it will only grow bigger with time. I can guarantee that the carpet square didn’t just pop up one day. It rose up a little more each day until it wasn’t able to lay flat anymore.

As I found out, simply acknowledging the issue isn’t always effective either. It’s a great first step but just knowing something is a problem won’t keep us from being tripped up by it over and over again.

Repairing the issue often takes more skill than we have on our own. Good thing God came to earth as a carpenter! We can only be repaired when we acknowledge the sin pattern in our lives and take it to the One who is able to make us new. God is the Master Craftsman who can remove the sin and repair the damage it has caused, but only if we let Him.

Do you have a raised carpet square in your life that continues to trip you up? Are you ignoring it, acknowledging it or repairing it? Believer, the problem won’t go away on its own. It needs the hand of the Master Craftsman.

Be blessed,

Jennifer

“…I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble…” Jeremiah 31:9