Live and Learn and Then Get ...

"Live and Learn and Then Get Luvs." It was a slogan the Luvs company used for a few years to market their disposable diapers. The corporate intention was to influence parents into believing Luvs were the best choice to catch a baby's, well, pee pee. Why? They are less expensive diapers that are supposed to work just as well as the higher priced brands. From what I have read online, the diapers work very well for many families. Unfortunately, Luvs did not perform well for either of my children. They leaked and were a coarse papery material. It was a frustrating lesson to learn because even value priced diapers are expensive. The money was spent and the children were leaking all over the place.

Do you know that I idiotically bought those diapers two more times because I wanted to save money? In my pee sized (pun intended) brain, I thought maybe I would have a different result. My choice made absolutely no sense because my kids were still going to get wet, I would still be frustrated, and on top of it I was wasting my money. My repeated choices translated into the same consequences each time.

At different points in our lives, we are faced with situations - big and small - that require our attention. Many of the opportunities crossing our paths sound appealing so we choose to go in the direction most attractive or safe for us. But oh my, what if we have a Luvs moment? We get our hopes up on something that sounds terrific. It has to work! It is inexpensive, it promises security and an ultimately positive result. So we move forward with our plan, only to discover either immediately or with time that the choice we made was the wrong one.

The sad thing is that in many cases the wrong choice we made is repeated in a separate set of circumstances. Guess what happens though? God makes sure we learn the exact same lesson: "don't do it again because you and those you love are going to experience some nasty leakage."

Why do we make wrong choices? Maybe it is due to some of the following things:

• Ignoring God's will revealed to us through His Word
• Ignoring the direction and confirmed peace of The Holy Spirit
• Harboring hate or refusing to forgive
• Lacking knowledge or wisdom
• Being negatively influenced or tricked by others
• The love of self
• The love of money

God wants to be glorified through us at the maximum level and has planned to equip us accordingly. Thankfully, our strength to accomplish His will and to make the right choices is made perfect in our very own weaknesses. If we have not yet learned a lesson, He will continually place opportunities in front of us until we do.