I don’t know where it is, but it seems to always be there. Like in a contract, it might be small as a pin hole or large enough to drive a tractor trailer through, but it is there. Well, I will say it is there in me because I can’t speak for the rest of humanity. I can only say that it seems to be in everyone else too. I am talking about the devil’s loophole, the advantage he has in all the life contracts on this fallen world – even, seemingly, among the faithful. It might be wired into our DNA. I don’t know.  So, what do I call the Devil’s loophole?

There is a place in me where logic and emotion meet. The seams around this connection don’t always fit tightly. This meeting place can be anywhere in my life, related to anything I experience or do or think or say. Here I offer a light example – the donut. I know I have to watch my weight. Too much sugar is bad for you. Moderation is always important—all said by my logic and maturity. Yet, I take the extra donut(s) despite my wisdom. I know that I’m working on my diet and exercise, so someone suggests we go out to eat, and I suggest a place that I secretly know will sabotage my self-control. The loophole is there. Sometimes it seems to be everywhere.

I can see the loophole more tragically exampled in people who are dynamic in so much of their lives, but have sunk to depravity sexually, financially or some other way. The enemy exercises this loophole when they are most vulnerable, and exposure can make their fall all the more dramatic and extreme. The newspaper and public media seem to be happy to chronicle their fall.

Loopholes grow because of “the secret.” The secret is the false belief that it can be hidden, God won’t notice, or worse, there is no God within whom justice is a character trait. The loophole infects all the touching tissue until it consumes all in its proximity. The otherwise healthy portion of a person is confined to a smaller and smaller area of life until the truth is exposed, the point of completing the destruction or beginning the healing and reclamation.

Our compassion is tested by seeing those whose lives have become public displays of destruction by something selfish, anything selfish, which grew out of proportion by the failure to see it, expose it, and deal with it. The larger it is, the more it destroys in the host and the host’s environment. The question isn’t whether or not I, or anyone, has a loophole operating in my life, but how soon I will discover it, expose it, and begin to let God rule over it.

I am a dry alcoholic. I’ve been dry for many years. God has given me a life, a career, a most wonderful wife, and fabulous children through His closing a loophole in my life and stopping the disease. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I saw and knew it was hurting those around me. It grew from the pinhole of a few drinks with a friend to the truck of blackouts and not knowing where I was or remembering who I was with. The injury I caused others didn’t bother me at all when I was drunk. It started small, but it didn’t stay that way. Even at my worse, I didn’t consider myself a bad person. Everything the loophole touched grew infected to accommodate the loophole, so it grew and grew. Excuses and lies kept the loophole company. Guilt became pity, requiring more alcohol according to a mind distorted by the growing sin infection.

I have seen other alcoholics never have the gap closed or the disease stopped until it took their lives completely. I grieve for them. I know God worked as hard for them as He did to rescue me. God doesn’t play favorites. He is the rescue artist and is always working to close loopholes, any loopholes, and heal every resulting disease. It doesn’t matter how small or large the loophole, God is willing and able.

I am able to enjoy my life because God provided all the support, personal help, and encouragement I needed. He taught me to hunt loopholes while they are small and let Him seal and heal them before they have time to destroy. He taught me to stay close to my Christian family for accountability and be there for others with the gift He gave me. Running to God is a blessing, not an embarrassment. I am continually astonished as I grow in knowing how generous Jesus is and how desirous He is to help.

I pray that each of you who read this will discover all the help Jesus has prepared for you and has surrounding you right now in your lives. You are not alone.