Some Things in Life Aren't Worth the Cost....

Have you ever found yourself doing something or in a situation that you swore you would never ever get into?   Have you ever compromised on what God has placed on your heart and that you know to be true?  Have you had to face the fact that some things or people....no matter how awesome or attractive they seem...just aren't worth the cost of compromising God's plan for your life?  I have....more times than I would like to admit. 

It all starts with something small....and then it slowly creeps along, building and building, until what you thought you could never do....happens.  You don't know how deep the hole is until you dig so deep that you can't see the light anymore.  The divorce rate is above 50% and people are cheating left and right...but do you think that the day that most of these people took their wedding vows they were thinking that was going to happen?  I doubt it.  But things that are done in the dark....will come to light.   The enemy is so slick and tricky.  He knows that we wouldn't knowingly walk into something that could kill us or hurt us.  He attacks slowly so that we don't even realize we are being invaded.  He is the epitome of the Trogan Horse.  We think we are being offered something good.  Then we wake up in the morning to find that not only did we unknowingly invite the enemy into our fortress, but now they have destroyed us from within while we were sleeping.


Today in church, Pastor Michael preached about not compromising.  He told a story today, that totally shook me awake.  That is why church is so important, ya'll...If I hadn't gone today and gotten this message, I could have continued down the path of compromise and not realized that is where I was going.  It wasn't labeled, "Compromise Road".  I think this story is a perfect representation of how we compromise in our lives.  Especially in relationships.  He told a story about how he and his kids were at an arcade.  He gave them money to play the games, but told them that the only one they couldn't play was that game with the crane and the claw that is supposed to pick up the prize and drop it.  He, as the father, knew that this game was completely impossible to win.  The game is designed to attract you will all kinds of toys and shiny things, but no one in the history of the world has ever won at this game.  It unapologetically takes your money over and over again, but you get nothing in return except frustration.  But what does one of his sons do? He plays the claw game.  Don't we all do that though?  We disobey our father because we think we know better, or that we can trick the system?  So, his son puts a quarter in determined that he would be the exception and that he would show his dad that it wasn't impossible.  Once he puts the coin in he realizes that he is on a timer and so he starts frantically trying to get the claw over top of this stuffed animal in the middle.  Finally he gets the claw right above it.  The claw drops down and wraps itself around the toy. It appears as if it has grabbed on.  But then the claw lifts up and off of the toy, leaving it in the same spot, and goes back to the corner mockingly awaiting another quarter to be dropped in.  His son saw how close he was to getting it and puts another quarter in...totally convinced that this time he knew what he had to do to get it to latch on.  But once again....he was left disappointed.  His father knew it would be a waste of time and money, but he was too overtaken not only by the attractive prizes, but by the challenge of the impossible.  In my own experience, I have seen people put $10 worth of money in those machines for a $.50 toy, just because they thought they could beat the system.  The trick is that it gets you just close enough to winning the prize that you think it's possible.  If we know the game is impossible, why do we still play it? 

The story of the crane game is basically the story of so many of my crushes and relationships.  I get so distracted by the attractive prize that I fail to weigh the benefits/loss ratio.  It's all about winning the prize.  Even if I got the prize...would I really want it?  Time and again when I did finally get the guy I thought I wanted, I quickly found out that I just wasted all my time on someone that I don't even like that much or didn't like me that much.  In fact, it usually ends up that this fantasy guy that I have created in my head is nothing at all like the guy in real life.  I just compromised myself in order to turn the head of a guy that doesn't want me back or that I don't want.  YUCK CITY. Would the right guy ask or require that you compromise yourself?  And what kind of guy would want a girl that is willing to compromise herself?  When it comes to the dating game....a lot of us like the challenge.  It's more about winning the prize than it is caring for the prize in sickness and in health till death do you part.  When someone tells me that something is impossible, I like to prove them wrong. This is a great attitude to have for a lot of things, but when it comes to relationships....is it worth the cost of your self worth?  Is it worth compromising your beliefs?  What do you have to do to claim your prize?  What price do you put on your heart?  I think that a lot of us feel insecure and think that winning the prize will make us feel worthy, but honestly....it never does.  It makes us feel...well...compromised.  Godly men want godly women and vice versa.  Women that will do whatever a guy wants are a dime a dozen, but a woman that knows her worth as a child of God are a rare jewel worthy digging for.   In my past I have compromised myself over and over again, and I have felt myself doing so even recently.  The Trogan Horse was wheeling it's way back into my life....slowly.  What can I say...Old Katie tended to place her wandering eye on a wandering guy.  Not good.  Sometimes I forget that I am a New Katie in Jesus and I am worth way more.  And from this day forth....NO COMPROMISE. (PS - There is an amazing book called No Compromise about the life of Keith Green....it is SO amazing....read it if you want to change your life for the better.  If you want your life to suck...don't read it. LOVES)

Have you ever seen Legend with Tom Cruise?  If not, you HAVE to watch it.  It always preaches to me.  In the beginning of the movie, the character Lily throws her beautiful ring into the bottom of the river and tells Jack, her love,  that she will marry the man that finds the ring and brings it back to her.  It seems impossible, doesn't it? A small little ring in a big flowing river?  In his shock, she tells him, "It is my right to set a challenge for my suitors."  Talk about not compromising.  Now-a-days we throw ourselves at men and women that are just like that crane and claw game....they ask us to compromise or we choose to compromise.  We see the pretty prize and we think that we are going to be the exception...we are going to win this elusive prize.  It may even appear that we have gotten ahold of the prize, but then you find out one day that it was all an illusion and now you have wasted your money and time on a prize that wasn't worth the cost.  Why do we compromise so readily?  God is telling us not to compromise, but we disobey our Father and we go after the deception.  There is another awesome scene in Legend where this dark evil lord has kidnapped Lily because of her purity and light.  He wants her to become a creature of the darkness and marry him.  At first she is totally disgusted by him.  He tries to woo her by saying kind things and appearing to care about her.  He makes promises to her.  She continues to resist.  He continues to try and woo her with jewelry and food, and all kinds of things of the world.  Then a creature dressed all in black comes out and starts dancing this hypnotic dance.  Lily suddenly finds herself dancing with this beautiful dark figure.  Before she knows it, she is now dressed all in black and on the outside looks just like one of them.  Even her thoughts start to turn dark.  She is slowly slipping into being someone that she is not.  There is no light in the darkness that she is in.  Sometimes we don't realize that we have just accepted a dance with the devil.

I love the fact that Lily realizes her worth.  She knew that she set the bar so high that it seemed impossible, but Jack had a pure heart and pure love for Lily and therefore was able to find her ring at the bottom of the river.  I refuse to compromise what I know to be true.  I have the right to set the challenge for my suitors.  I belong to God.  And my Father....well...He's the kind of Father that answers the door with a shotgun (I'm talking about Jesus here...not Randy...plus, it's my mom that answers the door with the shotgun).  He loves me more than I can ever imagine and is not going to let anyone touch his daughter or break her heart without paying a price.  My Father is very protective.  He goes before me and shields my way.  He has numbered every hair on my head.  He doesn't want me to be alone, but He would rather I be alone than be with someone that isn't right for me.  He loves me too much.  Time and time again He has saved me from being with the wrong man.  Sometimes I forget who my Daddy is.  But He never forgets. 

Loves,

Kaetea (I am thinking of spelling my name this way... just to be cooler than I already am)