Time seemed to stand still as I realized what my son was about to do-he was riding his bicycle and heading straight into the rabbit hutch!

When the boys are riding in the back yard I try not to look. Their bicycle riding is similar to acts under the Big Top and, I have to admit, it makes me nervous to watch. But this time was different. This time Joshua was riding his bicycle around and around the back yard, with no brothers in sight, with a look of sheer determination on his face. He wasn’t going to stop. He was going to smash into the rabbit hutch!

My laughter had to be silenced when I saw the obvious pain stemming from his upper thigh and his chest where the handle bars hit him. Being a seasoned mother of four I realized that his injuries weren’t serious and a hospital visit was not necessary. He was able to run from the collision to the house, there was no blood spurting from any open wounds, and his crying proved he could breathe. Yes, he was hurt. But let’s face it, running a bicycle straight into a rabbit hutch is really a dumb thing to do.

How hard it is to watch our loved ones run straight into something that we know will hurt them. How hard it is for us, as we rush head first into something that we know is wrong, to stop the downward spiral and turn to Jesus. Our lives are filled with daily battles between good and evil, right and wrong, pain and pleasure.

            Romans 7:18-21 NIV I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do, no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

            This is life-the training ground where we learn the difference between good and evil. Sometimes the temptation is too great and we get hurt. Sometimes when we are able to resist temptation, our reward is nowhere in sight and we feel cheated. Still there are other times when everything falls into place and we are blessed beyond our comprehension

Our encouragement to continue our daily struggle comes from God through His word. Jeremiah 29:11-14a says: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from captivity.

Life on this earth will continue to be a struggle between what is right and what is wrong. I will continue to agonize over my choice of a grilled chicken cutlet and potato chips with onion dip. Joshua and the rest of the crew will continue to stretch their physical limits and come home with cuts and bruises. Our complete release from this war will only come when Jesus comes again, in His glory, to redeem the captive and to bring us home. The bible tells me that He is going to prepare a place for me. I am absolutely sure that my room will be padded.

Linda Guteres

July, 2015