Snags, Snares and God’s Soundtrack

By Augustina Sauceda

You’ve known for some time that God has His perfect plan for you. Like Samson, the mighty warrior of supernatural strength, your purpose too is God given. No doubt, His plan for you has been mapped out, scripted, and choreographed; with the perfect melodious soundtrack to keep tempo with His timing. Should be pretty easy to follow that beat and dance our way on through – from glory to glory. Then, what are you allowing to snag you up? What are you tripped up on, daughter of God?
 
Often times our greatest barrier to successfully carrying out God’s plan is returning to that snare that trips us up; once, twice, three times… or more. Each time, we confess it, profess to repent, but do not truly repent. Repentance literally means turning away and stepping away; never again following those steps that led you into the same old rusty-lusty trap. How many times have I known that the snare of temptation would lead me away from God’s will; yet, I allow myself to again be stepping into the muddy footprints on the path that I said I would leave behind? For many of us, that snare is social media – with all of its alluring, self-centered motivations. For some of us, it’s climbing that perpetually unattainable ladder of success – in pointless contrast to what God has planned. For others, our snag is the lust of the flesh – perhaps longing for a relationship with a certain someone we know is less than God’s best for us or flirting with lustful thoughts. We cannot get trapped in these things. Like hitting a sour note on an instrument, these snags take us out of harmony with God’s soundtrack for our lives… and, we know this!
 
What are we gonna do about it? Keep trippin’? Samson did, he tripped his lustful heart all the way to his destructive end – despite the fact that from the womb, the Bible says (Judges 13), He had a covering of grace and purpose over his life! You - do - too! Think of Samson’s glorious locks of hair (the instrument of his superpower) and compare that to the covering of glowing grace with which God has adorned you. Why then, do we take that grace for granted, and sometimes even use or abuse God’s gifts for our own selfish desires? That’s wrong, woman of God! Samson loved a woman whose name was Delilah; a woman sent for the enemy’s purpose of luring him away and getting into the deepest place of his heart - with the intention of tearing down his God-given strength. What is your Delilah’s name? What is that one thing that the enemy knows he can bait onto the hook and you’ll bite every time? Don’t just try to repent, rinse and repeat (That’s just trippin’)! Truly repent this time and do not repeat. Samson waited ‘til the end to repent, and God allowed one last victory for the kingdom’s sake; however, it cost Samson his life. Don’t wait that long, oh daughter of God. Shh! Listen… can you hear a steady backbeat playing… waiting for you to join in and groove to glory of God’s restful rhythm?       
 
Read more about harmonious living in Philippians 4:1-9 (MSG)

Augustina Sauceda
Sauceda11770@comcast.net
 
Augustina Sauceda is a third-generation believer in salvation through Jesus Christ. She is in her thirty-third year of learning to walk out her faith. Augustina is the mother of two adult children and grandmother to one jovial granddaughter. In 2020, she and her husband, Ritchie, will be celebrating thirty years of marriage. Augustina has been in the field of education for twenty-three years; teaching K-12 special populations and serving in college administration. Augustina is native Coloradan, who considers herself a life-long learner. She is a contributing editor to a series of character-building children’s books, entitled Lovito. Augustina possesses a sincere desire to edify the kingdom of God through the opportunities afforded to her.

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