Choosing Disaster
Disaster is often chosen ---a clearly defined choice made while looking squarely at the disaster. It’s a real puzzle.
Of course, no one chooses the end, that is the final result. No one chooses pain and calamity. Realistically they choose the disaster, the end, with their chosen path.
A man walks around unsteadily amid the clutter of wrecked cars and mangled bodies. He mumbles in his alcohol slurred speech: "Why did this have to happen to me?" It did not just “happen” to him. He made the appointment himself. He never wanted to be the driver who killed several people. He chose a drunken party; he chose to get behind the wheel in his drunken stupor. He knew the effects, yet, still, he chose disaster.
A man wheezes in his oxygen mask. His eyes dilated with fear. He cannot breathe! His once strong body withered from lack of oxygen. All his organs are shutting down from lack of oxygen. "Why me?" he thinks. He would never have chosen this. Yet he did choose to smoke, and he chose to continue smoking, in spite of all the warnings against it. He had seen them all. Now he is dying. He chose disaster.
A young woman works through the day with accumulated fatigue weighing her down like a heavy burden. A second job awaits; she will get little sleep. Further, both jobs will not meet her financial needs. There is too little time with her child. She feels like a failure but sees no alternative. The walls seem to close in; the burdens are just too much for one person. "Why am I in this mess?" Of course, she never expected this rat race, but she did make a choice. She ridiculed and rejected the God given rules of marriage choosing to live with her lover. With a baby expected, he deserted her. Now she is all alone with her baby and with no help. She doesn’t want this. She never imagined this! Against all the advice and warnings, she made her choice. She chose disaster.
A man walks through his house empty of sound and activity. Remnants of toys and other children's clutter are here and there, but no children. The perfume of a pretty and devoted wife lingers in the air, but there is no welcoming voice or kiss. Loneliness like a heavy fog fills the whole house and his heart. "What a mess! How did I ever get here?" He refuses to see the answer! He made a choice to ignore that precious family while pursuing all his grand goals. A choice to abandon his family and be with his business associates. A choice to add just a little extra marital fun with that alluring acquaintance. Oh, he never intended to lose his family, but he did clearly make choices. Now he has the full fruit of those choices. He chose disaster.
A man lifts up his eyes through the flames of torment. He sees Abraham and the saints of all ages, many of whom he knows, in the distance. Anguish surrounds him like a tight collar. Thirst cries out and will not be satisfied. “This is unbearable,” he cries. A din of anguished cries comes from all quarters from the lost souls around him. One screaming voice sounds like his own. It is deafening. "How did I ever come to be in this awful place? Why is this happening to me?" Choice! Hell is chosen! No one wants to end up in hell; this man is no exception. BUT he chose. He deliberately determined to do as he pleased. He chose to reject God's guidance and instruction. He chose what he knew was wrong; he knew the Bible well enough to know better than the way he lived. Worst of all, he chose to walk away when Jesus called. He chose to stubbornly reject the Lord’s invitation for salvation. He chose that course. He chose disaster. Eternal disaster!
How about our choices? Where are they taking us? Do we really want to go there? Are we also choosing disaster? We can also choose to walk with God. The end is far better!
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