Last evening, I enjoyed a short walk outside. It was super windy, but it was also super warm, and it felt great to get outside and move!

As I walked, the wind kept blowing my hair in my eyes—as in: constantly! It was starting to get on my last nerve to have to keep swiping my hair out of my eyes over and over and over again, when I finally decided to just tuck that strand into the hair clip that was holding the rest of my hair up in a high ponytail—problem solved. (Feel free to throw in a “duh” here if you’d like! I deserve it!) After that, I didn’t have to mess with it, and I could concentrate on just moving forward with my walk.

How many times does that annoying “strand of sin” keep doing that in my spiritual life? And when it does, what do I do about it? Here are a few personal examples of those “duh” spiritual moments from my own life:

*The secret strands of character-revealing moments: I shouldn’t be watching this program, but maybe it’ll get better. No one else even knows what I’m watching. I’m spiritually strong enough to handle this even though I wouldn’t want anyone to know I’m watching it.

Psalm 101:3 (NIV) “I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.”

*The wandering strands of uncontrolled thoughts: What if…? I’ll bet they’re…. If only I had…. Why don’t they…?

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

*The pesky strands of doubt and fear: I can’t do this. There’s no way I can do this. It’s not possible for this to happen. I need help. Where can I get some help?

Psalm 28:7 (NIV) “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.”

So, when those annoying questions or temptations keep coming your way over and over and over again, use God’s Word to just stick that annoying sin in the “ponytail holder” that was there all along and keep moving forward!