How to Feel Hope after Dead-End Decisions

This morning, I found a fly where a fly ought not to be: inside a closet off our bedroom, which is off the kitchen, which is off of a living area, which is off of a sunroom, which finally leads to the outside.

This fly had made a lot of bad decisions, ending up in the remotest dead end of the house.

Flies are annoying and I considered flattening him, but a merciful thought passed my mind. If he would hold still and let me catch him—or walk onto my hand and stay there—I’d let him out. But nope. Shortly after taking this picture, he took off and kept buzzing. This fly had little chance of finding his way to an open door on his own. Without my help, he’d be dead lying on his backside at the bottom of the closet.

Compared to God, we’re much less enlightened than even a fly. We make decisions based on our limited understanding of what matters most and the blessed state that our Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,” said Jesus. (See John 10:10, NKJV.)

To the fly, the great outdoors is paradise, his natural habitat, and where God placed him. But life’s choices can leave us trapped, like the fly. We need our Savior, Jesus Christ, to lead us back to the great outdoors, that childhood paradise of beauty and innocence that we all once enjoyed. Without his help, we’ll never make it out. The fly actually has a small chance of making it on his own. But we literally have zero chance without Christ. Zero.

There is Hope

Perhaps you’ve become an unkind person. You’re fighting with others online. Partying too much. Addicted to prescription drugs. Addicted to porn. All of these are wrong turns that lead to captivity and frustration. We need to trust the hand that wants to help us. Let’s look to him and give up the resistance.

God is smarter and that’s okay. We need somebody smarter.

Even bad choices about jobs or relationships can leave us feeling trapped. Our uninspired decisions place us into a maze of unhappiness. It’s an awful feeling, isn’t it?

What a fabulous moment for you and for me when we realize that trusting Christ’s teachings by making the commitment to follow them injects light into our lives. Real light. The door to the great, eternal outdoors! By walking onto his hand, we unwind the maze of wrong turns. We find spiritual freedom.

Walk onto His Hand

God is so much more powerful than we are. We need him.

The beauty of the gospel is that nobody is beyond rescue. Everyone can escape their past.

We need to walk onto that hand and trust that he can actually unwind the maze of wrong turns we have made and place us back in the great outdoors of spiritual freedom.

But how?

Start believing deeply in Jesus Christ. Make it a focus. This is not worn out advice. Believing in Jesus has more power than you may realize. Study his life. Admire him. Love him. Strive to follow.

Stay in his hand and you will feel him gradually walking you back outside.

Check Out These Other Posts

1. Hope for Families Who Suffer with Borderline Personality Disorder
2. Three Things I Love About Sin
3. People Do Change (For Good)

Learn from Others. Share Your Story.

For years, I didn’t understand how to believe or how to follow Jesus. If that’s a challenge for you, take a look at something that can help.

If you’ve escaped a dead-end road of your own through God, please do share! I love to hear stories of change and let’s inspire others!

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