No 3 is the Doubt Trap
According to Paul Tripp the Envy Trap and the Bitterness Trap lead to the Doubt Trap. he reemphasizes the point that the emotional and spiritual roller coaster of midlife disappointment is really fueled by doubt about God. "All our difficulty with people and circumstances is the fruit of a functional theology of cynicism. We aren't denying God's existence or ostensibly forsaking the faith, but we are less and less willing to put our lifes in God's hands and rest. "
No 4 is the Bargain Trap
"It is often tempting to strike bargains with God, but life is not a series of strategic negotiations with God... Perhaps there is no more important thought than; "If I had _____, then I would be happy." Paul goes on to say that what holds your happiness controls your heart and what controls your heart conditions your emotions, commands your choices and shapes your behaviour. God knows however that unless we find our ultimate happiness in HIM, we will become hopelessly enslaved to things that can never deliver the life thatw e are seeking.
No 5 is the Denial Trap
"Some of us will not face the fact that we will never realize our dream. We invest an amazing amount of time doing everything we can to keep the dream alive. I a tragic allegience to the dream we may begin to contradict our own values and break our own rules. "
A noble dream can consume as I have discovered and when God says its "The end" we wish to prolong the "dream." Interestingly, Paul ends this chapter by stating:
"Some of us are too skilled at denying the death of our dreams, and in our dutiful allegience to them, we sacrifice many of the things that we once said were so important to us."
I think this is significant because it says that we can "keep the dream alive" outside of God's will. We can be so skillful as to keep it going while sacrificing many of the things that are important to us; for example our relationship with God!
I must say that in the last days of December 2005, after returning from the US for a month and visiting with my brother and his family in the US, it was clear that we were to move the entire community into and under the care of a larger church community. We had prayed for a year about this and in December of 2005 it became quite clear. The Lord made the transition so smoothly!!!
