Are you in a Dead End?

Dead Ends. Decisions that lead to death. I learned many lessons during this phase of my life, but two stick out.

Lesson one: Watch out for dead ends and turns that lead to dead ends. I got here not by one turn of my life wheel, but through a series of wrong turns. Thankfully, there is a way out of a “Dead End,” so stick with me. The point is, sometimes we need a “Dead End.”

We need to have absolutely nowhere else to go but to God. He is the One and Only Way!

Lesson two: Self-check. Ask myself, Am I a “Dead End” for someone else? Is there something in my life that is not fruitful? Are there people in my life who I am not speaking life into, but death? At first, it seemed the answer was no. Of course not! I could never. But after very close examination of my own heart map, there were things that made me realize I wasn’t “all that and a bag of chips” like I thought I was. Reality check. My heart harbored things like negative self-talk. Gossip. Spreading sadness instead of goodness. This is the woe is me story time, with no happy ending. Just poor pitiful me, not doing anything about my problems. What a joy I must have been to be around. Do you know anyone like that? Is that you?

You see, this is all the sadness the enemy wants to use to isolate us even more.

In this “Dead End” season, I was moved emotionally by things around me, but I wouldn’t share them with others. This should have been the first sign that I was headed in the wrong direction. I had always been creative, a writer and deep thinker, but for this season, I kept it all bottled up. I thought I could handle it all with masks and smiles. I thought I was strong enough to keep up the façade.

The reality was, I was afraid of my own thoughts. I was afraid of the truth.

When you are afraid of yourself and the truth, it leaves you very weak, and subject to the most enticing of sins. The enemy knows this. During this season of my life, I was at a complete dead end in every way, with only one lifeline. Without that, I promise you, I would not be here today.