Contributing to my own problems

Recently I made a nice cup of coffee/hot chocolate in my travel mug.  The few sips I had was delicious to my palette.  Arriving home I grabbed the cup and my hand bag and was trying to grab another huge bag from the back seat when I heard the sound of the mug cover hitting the ground. 
I didn't even remember holding it in my hand.  I didn't realize that as I wrestled with the bag, my mocha was being spilled all over my purse, inside and outside. 

Needless to say, it was a mess.  The mocha that seemed so good in the beginning was now the very source of my problem.  Well, really it wasn't.  I was the problem.  I didn't heed caution nor did I think beyond the immediate need I had to fill. I never anticipated that holding everything at once would be disastrous and cause me more time in the end than it was even worth.  Making two trips would have been a lot cleaner and in the end easier for me.

However, Holy Spirit doesn't miss an opportunity to guide me into truth.  I realized that this spilled coffee drink was an illustration of my life.  I am the root of my own problems most times.  Only I am oblivious to this fact until it makes a mess and I hear for myself the splat of destruction.  I don't realize that while I'm looking in one way, the other side of my life is being destroyed and I am the cause. 

My inattentiveness to my spiritual growth, that good thing, creates problems that could have been avoided.  I would want to say the Devil made me do it but truly that is not the real reason.  I am vulnerable when I am away from the daily disciplines of Christian living.  I become prime target and I am the one to blame.  I create my own problems and I am pretty sure that you do too. 

My friends, it is not easy to eat this message, but it is necessary to build us up.  You and I must be aware of what we are doing.  We don't want to find out too late that we are in a mess that we could have easily avoided.  Walk circumspectly.  Be intentional. Be wise. Get connected to the solution that is Christ, and don't contribute to the problem.