Chaplain's Corner
Hollywood Post 43 Assistant Chaplain Rocio Palmero
“ “LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them”.”
The Consequence and Redemption of Poor Choices
Even though I know what scripture reads, sometimes I tend to forget. I forget that these afflictions do not last forever. I tend to forget that my pains and suffering will not make it on CNN, Fox, or Twitter. I tend to forget that no matter how horrible my bad choices are or how badly I feel about them, nothing I do takes God by surprise.
The things I have learned over the past decades have been substantial, as I’m sure many have been for you. I have grown from them. I have changed because of them. My mistakes may look much more “mature” than the mistakes of my youth. What I’ve realized is that my mistakes may look different, but they are often the same mistakes. They are a progression of the mistakes I made when I was younger. But why? Why do I continue to make the same mistakes if I learned from them? Why do I make the same mistakes if I’ve grown from them? How can I make mistakes that are different but are still the same?
The reason is that I still have many things I struggle through. There are many things I struggle with. They are desires of the flesh. The difference is that I now have a relationship with God. A relationship that constantly causes me to examine what I am doing, why I’m doing it, and what those actions say about my relationship with Christ.
“ “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”.”
Man, o, man! I really, strongly resent this passage. It almost seems like a contradiction. . .doesn’t it? How can I have the desire to do what is right and not do it? How can I know what is wrong and still do it? And why are my choices sin, and not just bad choices? The reason they are sin is that we know what we are doing, we know that they may be wrong, and we choose to do it anyway. Sometimes we make these choices because they feel good. Sometimes we make these choices because they are the easier choice. Sometimes these choices are made because we are too weak to say no or are more concerned with what people think and not what God thinks.
““Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”.”
God gives us the freedom to make our choices. He is not passive-aggressive, punishing us with silence. He doesn’t stop listening to us. He is always there to hear our cries but is a gentleman and will allow us to make our choices, make our mistakes, receive our spankings and be ready to hold our hand when we are tired.
God never grows tired of His children. God never grows tired of wiping away our tears. God never grows tired of us saying we are sorry. God will never turn you away. God is always there. . .. waiting for you. Waiting to listen. Waiting to comfort. Waiting to help you do better. . . all you need to do is ask.
““The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.””
Thank you,
Rocio V. Palmero
Assistant Chaplain, American Legion Hollywood Post 43