Dogs to vomit - Peanut allergies

I would like to be humorous, but I can’t this time. I have seen too many lives run back to the vomit they escaped from as if the glorious blood of Christ who died for them was not strong enough or powerful enough to save them. They fail to see how the evil one lays the simplest of snares to entice them back in.

Worse than that, it seems to be a domino affect in which all of the players simply choose to lay their lives down rather than do what it takes to save their own lives, and the lives of their friends, to maintain their salvation and integrity. People that we deeply love, die. 

1 Pet 5:8: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

When someone has severe allergic reactions to peanuts, they must do whatever it takes not to inhale or ingest even a minute part of the peanut for the rest of their lives. If they are exposed to peanuts in any way shape or form, it can be life threatening to them. It isn’t a matter of likes or dislikes, it is a matter of life and death to them. If you have ever seen someone lapse into anaphylactic shock, it is horrific.

Once they have been diagnosed, they live their lives around the fact that they have a peanut allergy. Because peanuts are everywhere, people who are allergic know that they must alter their lives accordingly. They must be aware of the various triggers or catalysts that can take their life, quite literally, at any given moment.

Triggers are the catalyst to life or death in this situation. A catalyst is defined as “A substance that causes a chemical reaction to happen more quickly” or “A person or event that quickly causes change or action.” You see, a trigger or catalyst can be a substance or a person... and often is exactly that.

If you have a peanut allergy, you don’t ingest peanuts. But further, you avoid peanut farms, any place that prepares food with peanuts or near peanuts. You do whatever it takes to avoid dying. Furthermore, there is no shame in telling people that you are allergic to nuts. People around you understand this, and it is quite simple to keep peanuts out of the ‘mix’ when associating. (Okay, tiny pun.) Most people understand it is a matter of life and death.

I recall years ago, when we were hiking with a few of our grandkids and our Chihuahuas over a rocky hill at Girl Scout Mountain. Trinity and I lagged behind, while Tom, Rikayla and Michael were ahead of us with the dogs. They made it to the top, but just then, Africanized bees attacked Tom and the kids. He grabbed the kids one by one and ushered them down the hill calling at us not to come up and to get back down. At the same time, he called our dogs to follow him but one of them was too scared to move or had trouble. He went in after her again and received dozens more stings for his trouble. But he brought them all to safety. Unfortunately, we discovered he might have been allergic because his face, ears and body were so swollen that you wouldn’t even recognize him. He was in agony. If he had had a worse allergy, he could have died. Guess what? Given the chance of running into those hostile bees again, we avoided the area. In fact, one might say avoiding bees in general would be wise. Common sense, right?

Most people with allergies have common sense about it. So do the people who love them and don’t want them to die. People with allergies learn to adjust their lives around the fact that they are not healthy and must avoid triggers. It is simply necessary to change the way they live, to live longer.

Alcoholics know that they not only have to avoid bars, but they end up having to avoid friends who love bars. They understand what their triggers are and have discovered that they have to avoid friends who host get togethers with drinking, smoking and/or drugs. For many alcoholics, when they just smell a cigarette, it makes them want a drink. It is a trigger’ a catalyst if you will. Some people have family who revolve every family event around having a few brews. For this reason, even a person’s closest family and friends become toxic for them. It isn’t a simple matter of preference here, people. It is life and death.

So many people have trouble understanding how severe the alcoholic’s desire to imbibe is and they say things such as “Please come. You don’t have to drink just because we do. Come on! It will be fun.” And, to avoid seeming weak, or to avoid offending those that they love, the alcoholic may agree to come. They literally put themselves in harm’s way and risk losing all that ground that they gained, rather than having to explain.

Unfortunately, and we know this firsthand, many people, rather than NOT have alcohol, drugs or smoking present, just expect the alcoholic to be in a sea of temptation and not partake. I would never say that people are intentionally trying to cause the person to stumble and possibly die from their ‘allergy.’ However, people are simply and truly ignorant to the hard core pull of alcohol and drugs to the addict, especially to the triggers that make them want to partake. Even a party by itself can feel foreign to them without alcohol or drugs.

Common sense dictates that EVERY former alcoholic or addict MUST live their lives as if they are allergic to it, or anything associated with it, to save their own lives. And yet, as is the case with too many, they clumsily, or maybe even on purpose, expose themselves to the allergen or the peanut pusher, so to speak, as if they have nine lives.

Please know that many a recovering addict and alcoholic have died because they failed to protect themselves from the catalyst that would send them back down the path to utter destruction and death. I am a firm believer that satan rules the world of substance abuse with the sole purpose of destroying your life and holding you all in chains. It seems he has mastered the art of creating idols for you to worship but even more, of causing good believers to be sucked back into it by using situations, family, and friends to tempt you back in.

Mat 26:41: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Rather than continue with devotions, networking with healthy friends and family, finding healthy activities to distract you, you have been drawn back in like a dog to its own vomit.

2 Pet 2:20-22: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.””

You are someone with a severe allergy. If it helps, think of it like a peanut allergy. As such, you must live your life accordingly. What are your triggers? Who are your catalysts? What situations make it harder to avoid? Who do you want to impress to the point of not admitting that you have a problem?

1 Cor 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Staying alive means having the strength to say no and turn away from even your closest friends and family to save your life. (Whether they fail to understand out of ignorance or simply refuse to alter their lives to save yours.) Put it this way, if it were a peanut allergy, would you go on a tour of the peanut farm with your friends? Would you sample the peanut brittle knowing that you will die?

Jam 1:12-16: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”

Furthermore, what kind of friend or family can they be if they entice you to partake in nuts knowing that you already almost died from it? Do you WANT to associate with people who put partying over your health or life? Unfortunately, the catalyst is often is someone you love dearly… but is that moment worth dying for? That person or substance is the catalyst for quick change and possibly death.

Jam 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

God gave you the tools to win over temptation and to live a free and healthy life. Yes, you are free in Christ and yet you choose to be in bondage to the evil one. When you turn from God and seek your idol, your drug or alcohol, the thing that you worship, you essentially are choosing to become a sickly, craving, sin ridden minion to the evil one.

As family or friends of those struggling with addiction, it is your responsibility to lovingly help them overcome temptation. If you are unable to alter your lives to exclude triggers like smoking, alcohol or drugs to help save a life, then ask yourself if YOU have a substance abuse issue.

1 Cor 15:33: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”