I recognize that Proverbs 5 is written with the intention of giving a warning to the reader to avoid immoral women, but God actually used Proverbs 5:8 to speak a very clear directive in my life over ten years ago. There are "doors" we need to avoid.
Taking part in a private, online reading of scripture group, daily I would interact with the participants by writing comments and discussing how the Lord was speaking to me through His Word. We enjoyed wonderful deep discussions, sharing insights with one another. As the months continued I got to know the members as we prayed for one another and spoke of the personal ways that God was guiding us. One gal in particular would often respond to me, and although I appreciated her input, her insights and interpretations varied greatly from mine. Regardless of our differences she began to privately message me.
I will not deny that she had walked a hard road. Her family upbringing definitely had its challenges. Her marriage was broken. Her own sons struggled to have a relationship with her. And due to no fault of her own, having stepped in to physically intervene when a fight broke out in her place of employment, it resulted in multiple surgeries and lasting injuries. Life was difficult, no argument. My tender heart sympathized with all she had experienced. The more I responded with compassion, the more she opened her heart to me. Living hours away in a different country, I promised to pray.
One day she simply sent me a message that read, "When are you arriving?" She began to plant seeds of the possibility of meeting. To make a long story short we did visit one another multiple times. I drove to her home and she booked a flight and stayed in our home, once even coming to be with my family and I for Christmas because otherwise she said she would have been all alone. The thing is, in reality our lives were vastly different, and so was our desire to walk with God.
I started to recognize that time with this gal was changing me. I began to accept the unacceptable and do the unthinkable and participate in the inconceivable. I was walking a slippery slope. I knew better, but my strength seemed to vanish in her presence. I'm not blaming her for decisions I made and stands not taken. She may have been enticing me, but I had the choice to walk away.
On the last invitation she extended to me to visit her, I knew I shouldn't go. I was walking into a mine field. On my own I couldn't find the courage to just say 'no'. I remember opening my Bible one morning, praying for specific direction and I read, "Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house." (NIV)
God was making it very clear that the best defense is distance! David Guzik in his commentary on Proverbs 5 writes, "The longer one stays in the presence of such enticement to evil, the worse the danger becomes." The simplest way to flee temptation is by removing it completely.
"I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost...I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But, it isn't my fault. It still takes me a long time to get out.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. It's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
I walk down another street."
There are times when knowing danger is ahead and walking towards it or around it is foolish. We need to remove any allurement by walking down another street.
I don't know what "hole" you need to avoid or what "door" God is asking you to depart from, but I do know we need to heed His warning. I had many cautioning me over the 3 to 4 years while this gal was consuming my life, but I dismissed their input and refused to see the red flags all over this relationship. It wasn't until God gave such startling clear guidance that I was brave enough, and wise enough to part ways. We have to starve sin or it will be killing us.
Quote: Portia Nelson, "There's a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery; Artia Books; Copyright 2012
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