I was praying and doing some introspection this morning when I had this thought (no it didn't hurt...much) about the saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

I'm sure this thought is not original and I'm fairly certain it didn't come from my own brain but was inspired by God Himself. And it is this:

Hell in this saying isn't just referring to the literal place and it isn't merely referring to someone adopting a complacent, or controlling, or "the ends justifying the means" attitude. No. In fact it can be interpreted as this:

1) When we truly try to do good, when we are truly well intentioned, the world will attempt to punish you for it. Satan certainly will. And we can often feel as if we're in hell as a result if we are not continually praying, studying God's Word, praising and worshipping both privately and corporately, relying on fellow Believers for their support, and doing everything possible to keep plugged into God's Holy Spirit (who is our Counselor, Comforter, Friend, and much more).

2) When we are well intentioned and do things for the greater good but do so on our own without trusting in God we are apt to fail and failing is often a hellish experience.

3) When we do put trust in God and act on good intentions it often results in a spiritual journey where we are broken, wandering in the wilderness, and forced to truly put faith in the unseen, God, and not in ourselves or others. This is often extremely painful and temporarily we may feel like we are in hell.

4) Also, our good intentions can make life hell for others as well. Being well-intentioned and "helping" where help is not wanted or needed, offering unsolicited (albeit perhaps wise) advice that comes across as criticism, or even taking action that is not desired by God can cause others misery (hell) too. Why, even taking action that is God inspired can seem hellish to those resistant to God's will!

So yes, that saying is true no matter how you look at it. Being truly well-intentioned that is to say, having good intentions can indeed result in hell for us and others (at least temporarily). So stay strong for this too shall pass!

Strangely, I found some comfort in this for as some of you know these past two years have been marked by extreme difficulty for my family, for many of my friends, and even for myself. For so many of us have made the commitment to live our lives solely for God (oddly all about the same time period even though we weren't aware each of us were doing so). However, I think we have all come out of this a lot stronger and a lot wiser.

God bless you!