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When I was a child still in single digits my parents told me not to swallow toothpaste as it wasn’t good for me and would make me sick. As I thought on these words I set about testing what I had just been told. And so, I hesitantly swallowed a very small piece of toothpaste in our bathroom while nobody was watching. Nothing happened — I didn’t have any stomach pain, all felt normal as before. So I swallowed a bigger piece — all fine again; there was nothing to worry about! I then bragged about this to my younger sister and brother who were very eager and willing to join in all the fun by swallowing toothpaste. Not a good example to set by an older sibling. Maybe my parents were wrong? Maybe I was that one who could escape anything untoward such as illness? These were my thoughts, the faulty thoughts of a youngster who had no idea about cause and effect, but was learning about a concept known as consequences. I knew about getting into trouble if I did something wrong such as lying or stealing because we had a black feather duster with a hard long handle on it that made a welt in one’s backside. Sometimes we were so sore we could not sit down but the feather duster did get our attention and pronto! We soon learned that we should be obedient and take serious notice of discipline because it was for our own good (Proverbs 13:24).
Consequences to me were a dilemma as some were evident immediately while others took time. The immediate consequences made sense but those that took days, weeks, months, or even years were a complete mystery to my juvenile mind. And so I thought “it won’t happen to me” based on my faulty human logic that was undeveloped due to lack of life experience. How about you? Has this topic been something that you have also struggled with to understand the timing and severity of consequences? Since that time of foolishly swallowing some toothpaste there have been many years of living and experiencing life to see consequences unfold in regard to choices with employment, where we lived, who we were friends with, whether we had children and how many, how we spent our money, and what we did with our time. Some choices were okay, others great, while others were not so good and we suffered for it. Life can bring many hard lessons and that is why people say they have come from the “school of hard knocks”. Most importantly it is how we respond to these unwise choices and whether we learn from them.
Let me tell you about my biggest learning curve ever. I hit rock bottom some years ago with being angry at the world due to all the destruction, suffering, corruption, taking advantage of the poor, the weak, the orphans and widows, and all those who were left in wicked conditions out of their control including animals. One night I had a big blow up or melt down to God with a few choice words after watching a terrible news report about a father throwing his very young daughter off the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. That was back in 2006. At the time I was not coping very well but thought I was despite protracted illness for several months. I became angry with the injustices of what I saw around me and could not get the image out of my mind regarding the bridge incident. So, lapsed Catholic me, I told God that I cannot cope with knowing such things and hated being powerless to do anything about these situations as the news reported events after they occurred. I went on to tell Him in no uncertain terms that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with the world or have any part of it.
After dumping my stress onto God I resumed my dysfunctional living pattern with debt mounting while recovering from a severe bout of whooping cough. Trying to work through this while sick and as a single parent with no family support I just tried to “get on with it” but it was incredibly tough. Within a very short time God called me out of the world and revealed to me why there is so much pain and suffering in this world. It was a huge but welcome revelation at the time and finally the world made more sense to me. Still didn’t like it but I finally could start the healing process knowing that God is in full control.
Psalm 77:1-9 reminds me of my experience that night crying out to God “I cried out to God with my voice — to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah”.
To narrow things down and speak simply, it would be to say that we all have free will to make choices and some of these choices we make will undoubtedly have either temporary or permanent consequences — some for the good while others less than ideal or even to our great disadvantage. Because a consequence does not occur or happen right away does not necessarily mean we have gotten away with anything like I thought I did with the toothpaste. What it means is that as a “once off” our body might be able to cope with ingesting a substance that was not meant to be eaten or swallowed. We have God to thank for that, for the way He designed our bodies. But if we did swallow toothpaste on a regular basis because we like the taste of it, then in time one should expect to have some sort of internal consequence as it most likely would irritate our gastrointestinal tract and cause inflammation, for example. Our minds can trick us. We want to justify doing things that could be unwise or harmful — think of sexual intercourse outside of marriage. Many people think if they only do it just this once it will be alright — I won’t get pregnant surely! Well, this actually happened to me, I did get pregnant on that once occasion. I wasn’t married and got myself into a very scary situation. I had nobody else to blame but myself despite the unusual circumstances and my naïvete. Over time I came to learn from experience and medical consultations that I was extremely fertile — all of my pregnancies were from a once-off occasion. We would do well to determine our choices with clear heads before we get into any questionable situations. (Jeremiah 17:9).
As bad as illness can be the worst thing that could happen from a consequence is death (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). In our Bible we can read of the crazy things the Israelites did by gradually moving away from God’s laws to accept false ways and false worship of other gods which were pagan (Psalm 78). This is known as spiritual adultery. They intermarried with other nations which caused them to be unequally yoked and they were led astray into false ways even doing things such as child sacrifice like the pagans did. In modern day terms this is called abortion. It is legal in world terms but is an abomination in God’s eyes as He has blessed people to have children — they are a precious gift from God. It is a grievous sin to kill another being, whether they are formed at conception, whether they are full term, whether they are called a foetus, a sac of eggs, cells, or anything else to disparage their existence, or whether they are 5 years of age or 100. No exceptions. Ever. There are no exceptions! We must stop justifying everything. It is not about our will but it is about God’s will. If you want to love God and please Him then line up everything you do with the Bible as there are plenty of examples to draw from as you make your choice on whatever it is you think you want to do. If you cannot find the exact example then go to the 10 Commandments or read the book of Leviticus through all the laws. You will at least find the principle to learn from.
In conclusion therefore it is foolish to think that “it won’t happen to me” as it is highly likely it will and if not now then in the future, probably when you least expect it. Proverbs 1:5-7, Proverbs 12:15, and Proverbs 18:2-3 are all provided for our benefit to learn from God’s wisdom which is the best for you and me. There is no better or greater wisdom in the world or universe. This is it...this is what you need to read and learn from to improve your life. Perhaps you are struggling now or just getting by? Do daily activities seem a chore, a drudgery, could you be depressed with your life and are you thinking “it isn’t meant to be like this?” You are right! Without the missing spiritual component in your life, it isn’t meant to be like this! All you need to do is start the most exciting part of your life which can begin this very day. Find a few minutes away from the hustle and bustle of your day and go talk to God, even if it is in the bathroom/restroom. Tell Him what is wrong and tell Him how much you need to change it all. Try to find one thing you are grateful for and if you can’t find one thing then how about thanking God for your clothing, food, home, hot shower, comfy bed...or even just for creating you. Ask Him what is His will for you and then act on it.
Doing things according to our own will almost always gets us in trouble as we want to sin because sin feels good. We don’t hear much about sin anymore and you may well ask why this is so. People don’t like to be told they are sinful but we all are and continue to be this way until God changes us. You can start on this path of change by going to God and telling Him you want to change your life to include Him in it by repenting or saying sorry for your sins and then be willing to listen to God in prayer and when reading the Bible. Don’t go through the motions anymore hoping bad things won’t happen to you but rather be proactive and start the change of being protected by God. You can begin this journey! If I can, you can — choose for the better. God is waiting to hear from YOU and just know He never sleeps and will always listen to heartfelt communication which is sincere. Pour your heart out like I did as it was the best thing I ever did at the time — God wants to know and He wants YOU to tell Him in your own words. Unloading our cares of this life onto His shoulders is incredibly therapeutic and you can begin to heal as I have been doing (1 Peter 5:7).
After beginning a real relationship with God I can now relate to the other half, the remainder of Psalm 77:10-20 “And I said, ‘This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High’. I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they were afraid; the depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron”. Amen!