“But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.” Jeremiah 18:15 (NLT)

Do you remember as a child, going outside after a big rain and seeing this big mud puddle? You go up to it, stomping in with one foot then the other or maybe you take off running and with all the strength you can muster jump right in the middle of it. You jump around splashing that mud and dirty water all over you. You bend down and get handfuls of it, throwing it in the air, letting it rain down on top of your head. When you’ve had you fill, your feet caked in mud and your clothes and body soaked with muddy water, you go back inside, never considering the mess you’ve made. You’re not thinking about what your mom is going to say when she sees those dirty clothes and shoes or how upset she’s gonna be when she sees the evidence of your mess tracked all across her nice, clean floor. No, in your mind, you didn’t see a mess when you looked at that mud puddle, you just saw fun. And as mom’s tend to do, she goes about cleaning up the mess, washing you clothes and shoes, mopping the floor, until there’s no trace of the mess you had made.

As I read this verse, I realized we do the exact same thing in our spiritual life. When we are saved, God sets us on the straight and narrow path, He says, “This is the way, walk in it,” (Isaiah 30:21). We do so well for awhile. We have our eyes fixed straight ahead, we are walking the way of the LORD. But then our minds begin to wander, we get distracted or bored. We start looking to the left and to the right, watching for things that we think we may be missing out on. And there it is… the mud puddle.

Our curiosity is piqued. We begin by testing the water, one foot then the other, or perhaps, like that child, we take off running and jump in with both feet. We splash around and cover ourselves with the dirt and grime, the filth of our sin. Then we look down and realize what we’ve done and think, ‘I’ve got to get out of here before someone sees me.’ We try to walk away but the more we struggle to get out, the stronger that sin seems to be. When we finally wrench ourselves free, we try to clean ourselves off the best we can, hoping no one will notice. We think we have gotten away with it. But then the guilt and shame set in, eating us alive from the inside out. The evidence of our sin is still there. This is what the conviction of the Holy Spirit feels like and there is only one way to silence that feeling. “Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you!” (Ezekiel 18:30). So we call out to our Heavenly Father, “God I have messed up, I need your help. Please forgive me!” And our God, who is rich in mercy and abounding in love, reaches down, picks us up, cleans us off and says, “Forgiven and forgotten, now let me show you the way back.” The Bible says, The LORD is good and does what is right; He shows the proper path to those who go astray. (Psalm 25:8)

Our God never intends to leave us in our sin. He remembers that we come from dust, He knows we are going to mess up. It really seems so unfair that Satan knows us so well. He knows our weaknesses and he is able to paint such a beautiful, inviting picture of sin. He knows how to draw us in but the Bible says the LORD will not allow us to be tempted without giving us a way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13) He is just that faithful. So when you see that “mud puddle”, run in the opposite direction. Flee to the safety of your Father’s arms. Rest in the Shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1) He is our Protector, our Defender, our Refuge, our Redeemer.

Isn’t it amazing that God knows us well enough to convict us when we’ve done wrong? Aren’t you grateful that He cares enough to forgive us when we ask? Aren’t you glad that He loves us so much that He won’t leave us splashing in the mud puddle?