The Ladder

I woke the other morning with the thoughts of my past addictions; otherwise known as sins (Wonderful Counselor – Ab Abercrombie) I had grown accustomed to committing in order to satisfy my kingdom of self (Paul Trip). My heart grew so accustomed to them that it felt as if they were needs, though I am aware now of the condition of my spiritual heart driving those kinds of thoughts. SIDE NOTE I understand that after a time chemical addictions can turn in to physical needs and painful recoveries in order to come off of them, but thank God, I am only addressing mine, and my addictions hadn’t reached that level (alcohol), and lust of the flesh 1Jn 2:16.

It occurred to me that there is a path that the Lord desires for me to follow and Prov 4:25-27 says “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left: Turn your foot from evil.” On that path He desires for us, I will display the Fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22, but on the path I chose away from His will, I display the deeds of the flesh, Gal 5:17.

In my minds eye, I see this as a ladder I am climbing while striving to be more like Christ. And on that climb, He will provide the things I need in order to be successful, as measured by Him, much different than worldly success. On each rung He provides the food I need, the air I breathe, and the heartbeat to keep this body going, and Godly counsel through His Word. But the problem is, there are things of the world that caught my eye, and at first they appeared to be close in and easy to grasp, but as the addiction deepened they got further and further away from the ladder, and I had to reach out so far to grab them, to satisfy my sinful nature, that eventually the Lord allowed me to fall off the ladder in my attempts to grab those objects that would never satisfy my sinful nature. And after the fall, I am able to see more clearly that He does provide all my needs and that keeping my eyes straight ahead and on Him is a better path, His path, not mine.