Bad Boys...Bad Boys

Lisa fun fact......I like to watch the t.v. show Cops. I am not much of a t.v. fan but there is something about this show that makes me appreciate things and laugh. I think it makes me more grateful for my crazy days and it does my heart good to see the good guys win. The theme song for the show poses a great question. "Whatcha gonna do?"

I have been adding recent conversation notes, comments and feelings from other women about men, to add to my own collection. I shouldn't be amazed at the common statement or behavior that comes with those conversations. Women are drawn to bad boys. Most will even admit it is not a good thing, but they act as if there is nothing they can do about it. I was there once so I don't share with a judgmental attitude. I consider myself halfway intelligent so I look back and wonder how in the world I didn't see it. If I had understood the importance of running everything through Jesus back then, I could have saved myself (and others) a lot of heartache.

A lady last week was honest enough to share that a poor relationship in the past, kept drawing her back. She looked at me and desperately begged for wisdom. In my eloquent response I replied, "Would you go roll around in poison ivy if someone pointed it out to you? Or better yet, would you go back to a hunting trap and stick your other leg in it if you had already lost one in the trap?" Boy, that was some sweet Jesus advice wasn't it? Listen! Bad relationships are just like any other sin. They look good, smell good, and feel good until....you choose. Sin can get dressed up nicely, put on some good smelling cologne, tell you all the things that you want to hear and make you feel special. Then, it is in your life and it rots the very core of who you are. It can physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually make you sick and ineffective. It leaves you in a place where all you can do is survive through it.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to a young women at a wedding reception recently. I knew of her but had never had the opportunity to hear her heart. As she shared her goals and dreams, I never heard her mention A MAN. She was focused on what God wanted out of her life and it was refreshing. I am sure she experiences lonely days and longs for that kind of companionship just like anyone else. She even joked about her family messing with her all the time regarding when she was going to find a man. Why does the world get in our face and tell us life isn't complete until you have a man? When I was single (again), my friends acted as if I wouldn't survive on my own. They worried about me and made it their mission to find me a Godly man. They meant well but it doesn't get any more Godly than God himself. His love is the kind that is real, can heal, and genuinely make you feel special.

Another new friend has shared through email that she feels defeated with a relationship that she knows is not good for her. It has put her in a place of living a secret life. I believe she truly loves the Lord with most of her heart, but she has allowed someone else to have a part of her heart that has done some damage. She is desperate to break that habit and she can. As women, we have to allow our head knowledge to kick in full force. The tug of doing the wrong thing is always there. Paul admits it in the Bible. So we have to equip ourselves with truth by reading God's Word and praying our hearts out. Literally. Praying that our head wins out over our heart when it is deceiving us.

I love to challenge myself and others with James 3:11 "Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?"
That is powerful stuff. That means we can't hop back and forth in our actions. I love how The Message translates James 3:11.
"My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries do they? Raspberries don't bear apples do they? You aren't going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get clear, cool water, are you?"

So when it comes to bad boys, bad boys....whatcha gonna do? You are going to run. Run to the man in your life that knows exactly what you need and sit right beside Him until He brings it. Once you taste the sweetness of what Jesus can do in your life, you will never want to go back to bellyaches and heartaches. Choose and wait!