Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tangled Lights


Has sin tangled with your emotions and left behind a knotted mess in your heart? It’s like trying to straighten a string of lights on an overly dried-out Christmas tree. Why in heaven’s name is taking the lights off a tree so much harder than putting them on?

Two weeks after Christmas, my mother-in-law and I begin pulling the lights away from the crispy branches. Razor sharp pine needles poke through my t-shirt as I reach over the top to grab the lights she’s tossing over. In the midst of our light removing efforts, the strings intertwine and knot themselves into a post Yule tide mess. It makes a girl wonder how three strands of 150 twinkling lights can pull such a snag in a perfectly good day.

Trying to untangle strands of lights is discouraging. But even more discouraging is dealing with emotions tangled in sin. Have you ever tried yanking the kinks out of raw emotions only to find a bigger knot than you started with?

Sin is the root of most emotional entanglements.

Sin tangles with our emotions. I believe it’s the catalyst for emotional catastrophe.

Sin is subtle. It twists, bends, and distorts truth. Like a mirage, it looks beautiful from a distance but up close it’s a distorted mess.

Sometimes, we get so tangled in sin that we forget what it’s like to be God’s girl. We get accustom to the presence of sin twisting through our lives that it becomes the new “normal.”

Unleashed emotions roaring out of control lead to sin.

Emotional messes seem to catapult us into the kind of sin we never thought we’d indulge in. Until one day after folding the fourth load of laundry, our well-meaning-selves begin dabbling in things that have real sin potential.

At this moment, we must ask ourselves: Are we choosing sin over spiritual holiness? Are we turning away from the teachings of Jesus? Are we growing numb to sins that seem insignificant?

I like the way the Message paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:16,

"And I command you today: Love GOD, your God. Walk in his ways. Keep his commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live, live exuberantly, blessed by GOD, your God, in the land you are about to enter and possess.”

After a little pulling, twisting, and unraveling, my husband’s mama and I succeed in separating the strands of lights. This is what God’s presence in our lives can do. He loosens our kinks, untangles our emotions, and pours divine de-tangler over our knots.

So, how do we invest in a tangle free plan? Verse 16 tells us –

~Love God,

~Walk in his ways, and

~Keep his commandments.

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11 comments:

  1. Great analogy Kelli! Loving God, walking in His ways and keeping His commands is a great way to not get tangled up. Thanks for this! Blessings!

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  2. I think this post was written for me. I've been battling emotions (or hormones) that have been making me want to be ugly to my husband. It has nothing to do with him at all. It's just me. Jesus has been calling me to turn to Him instead of my emotions. I just have to say His name and my heart changes.
    Thanks for this post!

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  3. I know this post was written for me too. The last 2 days I've been battling with some horrible emotions, I heard God very clearly say deny yourself this morning but I didn't listen and said some things I shouldn't have said...thank you for this awesome analogy I'm gonna go pray now.

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  4. What a great analogy! And, so true. It's usually our own thinking/doing that tangles things up so badly. I can say this because I received some frustrating news this morning, but it's God's plan, and God opening the right doors that we have to keep focused on. Nothing is ever tangled with Him! Thank you for this, Kelli :) Great post!

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  5. I'm taking some medication that has made "emotionally unstable me" even worse, so this is perfect encouragement for the tangled up messes I've been making. Thank you... focusing on loving God, walking in His was and keeping His commands. Love you!

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  6. "We get accustom to the presence of sin twisting through our lives that it becomes the new normal" How true. It sometimes creeps in with such subtleness and we don't recognize it for what it is. Thanks.

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  7. I like the tangle free plan! Sounds like a good one to me....and easy to follow :-)

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  8. Excellent Post! I love how you told the story of the Christmas Tree and Pine's cutting like a razor. When it comes to our Emotions the enemy preys on all of us on this. He knows that if he can get us so emotional we will lose sight of everything. Because face it when you are stressed upset you can't think clearly. So many people make mad decisions when they are emotional. For me I am going through the change of life and so I have those emotional moments, and there are two things that I will not do. One is I don't make any major decisions when I am like this and I tell my loving husband that I am emotional today so please don't hold anything against me. When I tell him at I am emotional that day he gives me some extra space, because last thing I want to do is hurt his feelings all because I am emotional. And so last week for the first time I started praying about me going through the change, I pray that God will help me when my emotions sometimes get the best of me. God cares about everything that bothers us and He does not want His children emotional. Didn't mean to go on with this, I will try next time to keep it short my dear. Love ya

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  9. "So, how do we invest in a tangle free plan? Verse 16 tells us –

    ~Love God,

    ~Walk in his ways, and

    ~Keep his commandments."

    Awesome ending!

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  10. What a great analogy... we have had our share of kinks and tangles in our Christmas lights and in our lives.

    May we all continue to love Him, walk in His ways, and keep His commandments so that He can make our paths straight!!

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  11. Wonderful post Kelli! He's been working to detangle some of my emotional knots as of late, so this post felt very much written for me. :-)

    Have a Blessed Day!

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