Scripture
Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
Psalm 64:1 NIV
Reflection
I struggle with my faith and my fear. Worrying about the “what-ifs” of the future and the “what happened” of the past, means that I’m robbing myself of the present. My present is being choked out by two spheres of time that I cannot control or change. What was, was, and what will be, will be.
I can turn to God and trust His guidance and protection, and do my part to walk and act in obedience, or I can have a series of meltdowns that accomplish nothing but satisfying the cravings and deepest hunger of the enemy, we call satan. The thief desires to steal from us what can only come from God. It seeks the destruction of our hope and faith, and the relationship that we have and want with God. Our focus on our pain and what we don’t have means that we aren’t listening and obeying God; that means satan has us so distracted that we can’t even see the blessings around us and before us. His trick and trap is to lure us away, and the deeper our depression the farther away we drift and the harder it becomes to hear God’s voice and see His path.
Why give the enemy strength? Why gives its existence any relevance? The enemy exists because God allows it to, it has no dominion over us—we open the doors to our mind and let it in to torment us. Just like the vampire in the movies, only through invitation can it enter and cause havoc in your life.
Even though I’m not firmly planted in my convictions at this time, I declare that the enemy can’t have me. Even though I’m struggling emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially—I refuse to let satan claim victory over me. My soul belongs to God. My mind, heart, and body belong to God.
Every time the enemy tells me to not invest time in the things and people who “feed” me goodness, I’m declaring today that I will quickly say, “shut up liar“. As I fight for my life my motivation is to keep that thief as far away as possible.
I’m determined to get from under this cloud. I’m determined to move past the storm and to relish in the light and beauty of the days kissed by rainbows. It won’t be easy because I’m in pain and I’m exposed, but darn it I’m stubborn and I’ve never took well to someone telling me that I can’t do something. I’m tired of existing in fear. I want to live in and by faith. I want to stand in the boldness of knowing that I was created by and I’m protected by the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-in-all that we simply call God. I may not trust and obey Him all of the time, but I’m not a complete fool—as I heal I will tell the thief to “shut up and sit down” and eventually my choices in life will speak to the thief without a word ever leaving my mouth. That’s the goal.
Reclaiming me for me. Reclaiming me for God’s Kingdom. Moment by moment. Day by day. I take the first step, right now.
We have choices. God gives us the freedom to choose. We can either wallow in darkness, being miserable and deeply depressed, just waiting for the day to end and watching our life slip by; or we can choose to tell the thief that it’s not stealing a darn thing from us, not one single thing.
Go ahead and curse it if you need to. Tell it to get the heck away from you because you have things to see and experiences to cherish, and you can’t fully see and experience those things you keep dreaming about if you’re hiding from life and listening to the enemy. We’re missing out on life.
Are you okay with knowing that you’re playing the co-conspirator with the same enemy that sabotages you?
We are complicit in our own destruction. The thief can’t take what you don’t leave exposed. We’re leaving our doors and windows opened for the thief to come in, slap us around, eat our food, watch our television, sleep in our bed, use our bathroom, and then walk out boldly with that which we claim we love and cherish. That’s what we do every single day that we walk around in this cloud of spiritual funk.
Today let’s take the first steps to telling the enemy to “piss off” [yep, I said it]. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired then do one thing today that will piss off satan. Let’s try closing those entry points to limit the enemy’s access to us. We need to stop building up the confidence of the enemy; it thinks that is has dominion over us, let’s remember the Truth and remind the enemy that only God has that power and authority, only God has dominion over us. So the devil needs to do what? Piss off!
If you happen to see me around and you hear me say, “shut up” or “piss off” or anything else forceful, yet no one else is around, just know that I’m not crazy, seriously I’m not, I’m just putting the enemy in its rightful place. But I will try my best to whisper or speak silently to the wicked one so as to not alarm passersby. [*smile*]
I pray that you too will actively reclaim your life. If you wouldn’t mind, please join me in prayer by reading or reciting the words below:
Prayer
Father thank You for all the ways and through all of the people that You have been speaking to me. I know that my pain, worry, fear, and frustration have been clouding my judgment and interferring with the transmitted messages that You have been sending.
Thank You for never giving up on me. You know that I’m a great distance from where I need to be. You already know my journey. You already know what I’m going to do next, where I will stumble and fall, when I will act the biggest fool, and all the moments of victory that I will declare as Your gifts to me.
Even though I’m not where I’m supposed to be, I know that I’m here to learn this lesson and through leaning on You, be lifted out of this valley. I may not see my strength in all ways and in all circumstances, but one thing that I know I am capable of today is telling the enemy to “shut up”.
Father, please send me reminders throughout the day so that when the enemy does what You know it will do, I can remember to not give in to its trap, I can simply and boldly tell it to “shut up” and then continue with my day.
Father I want to push out the enemy’s voice so that I can focus squarely on Yours. I want to silence my ego so that I can embrace the fullness of the blessings that only You can provide. I want to cherish each moment as it comes and stop dwelling on the past and how it didn’t measure up to my dreams. My dreams will never be if I’m not fully present and accountable today. I’m here Father. I’m getting back up on my feet so I can resume my walk. I thank You now for the blessings that will come. In Jesus’ name I humbly, confidently and joyfully pray to You and praise You. Amen.
Love always, through the good, great, and even the roughest of times,
Natasha
Copyright 2018. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS MARKED (NIV) ARE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. COPYRIGHT © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA, INC.™ USED BY PERMISSION OF ZONDERVAN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE. HTTP://WWW.ZONDERVAN.COM THE “NIV” AND “NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION” ARE TRADEMARKS REGISTERED IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BY BIBLICA, INC.
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“…Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Breaking Bread With Natasha 