Articles
The Only Thing That Mattered
Several years ago, my sister Christy graduated from nursing school. In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, we had a party in her honor. There were perhaps twenty of us there. Friends, family, adults, children, the closest people to Christy. We had the party at her in-laws and had great food, delicious cake, and really enjoyed ourselves.
The tone of the party took a drastic turn when things were winding down. With a dozen or so of the partygoers still there, we all gravitated to the lanai and sat by the pool. The conversation was light and jovial and one of Christy’s friends joked about throwing her in the pool; taking the joke up, I grabbed Christy and headed for the water. No harm, no foul. She’d get dunked and we would all have a good laugh and remember it afterward. Well, we remembered it but not for laughter.
As I threw Christy into the pool, she grabbed onto my arms to try and prevent going into the pool. With my effort to throw her and her effort to inhibit the throw, she didn’t make it all the way into the pool. She spun 90 degrees and smacked her head into the side of the pool. Her lifeless body sunk quickly to the bottom. I can still see her eyes rolling in her head and feel the palpitation of my heart in my chest. A party to celebrate Christy’s achievement ended with her limp body at the bottom of a pool.
Within the next five seconds, everything was a blur. Everyone heard her head hit and knew that something was wrong. Her husband and I jumped into the pool and pulled her body out. After a few seconds, she regained awareness and we quickly drove her to the hospital. Thankfully, she only suffered a contusion and healed quickly.
In that moment when Christy’s eyes rolled back and her body sunk, I knew that what I had done was irrevocable. Occasionally our actions immediately result in the overwhelming dread of irreparable consequence. In these moments, we see a spiritual illustration – what we do and how we do it matters. There are consequences to our actions.
Ultimately, what happened with Christy was an accident; there was no possible way of foreseeing what happened. However, two contributing factors played a crucial role in those events happening and each teaches us a little something about our spiritual lives. First, lost in the excitement of the moment, we are easy prey for Satan. A desire to please others leads to poor decision-making. When we maintain self-composure and self-control, as we are commanded, we are saved from many of our mistakes. Second, holding on can be fatal. To this day, I still harbor some guilt about what happened. You will not find me throwing someone in a pool anymore. Christy and I talk about what happened from time to time and she is always quick to point out that, had she let go, the incident would have been drastically different. And that is true. When we hold on to the wrong things at the wrong time, it will lead to our own personal harm.
This article is not meant to scare anyone. It is meant to show us that “slip-ups” have serious consequences. Furthermore, we must recognize that we are not helplessly left in hopeless despair after we sin. God in His infinite mercies absolves our transgressions and mistakes; He liberates us from the excruciating stranglehold of guilt.
Are you harboring feelings of guilt and allowing them to cripple your spiritual life? Are you holding on to the wrong things at the wrong time? Have you been led to the path of destruction by a desire to please others? If this is you, God is the answer. Only He can deliver. Only He can save.
