So, you guys remember that last week my microwave went up in burning flames, right? And I am sure you have heard the saying (or the rock song), "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone". True, so true. Sniff. You just don't realize how much you actually depend on a microwave until it is rendered completely useless by a blazing fire (that continues to make your kitchen stink to high heaven and our home smell like the Marlboro man lives here). How does one make popcorn or microwave meals without an actual microwave? Anyway, since the "Great Microwave Debacle of 2008", I have been somewhat paranoid of another fire occurring in our home. Don't know why, but apparently seeing the huge flames coming from my microwave has caused permanent and major trauma to my psyche (ie. that microwave fire really freaked me out).
Yesterday, on the way to church, I had a sinking feeling that I did not hit the 'off' button on my flat iron before I left (for my 3 men readers - that is a contraption that makes my frizzy hair not so frizzy anymore). We were almost to church when it occurred to me, so I didn't mention it to the hubs, because my flat iron has a handy dandy automatic shut-off that turns the iron off after 60 minutes......and that makes it safe, right? Maybe. During church I could not get my mind of the possibility of my house burning down while I was sitting in that pew. I actually got kind of nervous and anxious. When a person is nervous and anxious, she/he cannot truly worship or concentrate on what God is saying. The devil knows that, which is why he loved the fact that I was focusing my attention toward worry rather than focusing on Jesus.
John 10:10 tells us "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". Satan used fear (and a microwave fire) to steal my worship, kill my concentration, and destroy my peace yesterday. I allowed him to do it. He knows our weaknesses and you better bet that he will pounce on them. This is not the first time something like this has happened......At other times, I have allowed him to steal my joy, my confidence, my humility.................my witness. Sadly, I gave him free reign over my mind yesterday morning instead of giving Jesus freedom to rule and reign where He already resides. It is like I asked satan to come into Jesus' house and rule for the morning --- and of course he did so with great pleasure. The devil is a weasel like that - he loves to worm his way into your weak spots so that he can use fear to control your actions. He is the master of manipulation and all too often we are his best helper.
I wonder if there is some area of your life that you have allowed satan to come in and takeover. Is there some place in your life or your heart that you have let the devil de-throne Jesus and crown himself king ? It's an easy thing to do, but thankfully, it is also easy to undo, because while satan is the master of deceit, Jesus is the Master of forgiveness. It's time to show satan who is the ruler of your spiritual house.
Tonight, we are going with our church to see Fireproof....kind of ironic, huh?
13 comments:
Oh girl....I'm just sitting here thinking, "I know. I know." Dern Satan.
And, I just laughed when you said you were going to see Fireproof. Now, thats funny.
Peace my friend. Peace.
Hugs,
Fran
My friend, Sunny @ Damsel no longer in Distress, taught me the greatest way to combat satan when he starts this strategy. It's called the "alphabet praise" prayer. What you do is start trying to think of a praise word about God for every letter in the alphabet, e.g. "Father You are so Awesome, You are the Bright and morning star, You are the Creator of all the universe, You are the Darling of my life, You are the Everlasting to Everlasting, and so on and so on. When you start trying in come up with a new word for every letter, two things happen, You begin to "praise God" which Satan hates and will flee from, and you get so focused on trying to come up with a "new" word for each letter that you lose focus of the thing that was worrying you. Try it, it really works and it is great fun. IN fact when Jacob gets a bit older I thought this would be a great travel game. I also use it sometimes to just start my morning quiet time. It has really helped me focus more on praise and less on myself and the schemes of the devil.
Thanks for sharing your "realness" with us. We all have these struggles. How's the Beth Moore study going, BTW??
God bless
P.S. if you can come up with any good "X" words please let me know. I cheat with that one every time...I just can't think of anything but Xylophone and somehow I'm not sure that is praise word to God. LOL!!
Amanda,
Xalted ---Xtra Special--Xactly Perfect-----Hey, I went to Central, that's how we spell it!!!
I must have missed your microwave post but I'm so glad that your house didn't burn down! Sorry you're going through some emotional "afterburns" right now but you're right in conquering that fear with scripture. Heres' to overcoming....
Yes that is ironic! You will LOVE the movie. We saw it Saturday in JC. It was a real date! I can't get over the movie, I want to see it again!
Awesome post, Bethanne! Thank you so much for sharing. jcdisciple, I love the alphabet praise idea- thanks!
I LOVE this post.
So what did you think about Fireproof??
I can relate to the feeling of fear that you're house is burning while you're in church.
Thanks for explaining the flat iron for your 3 male readers.
I kinda forget what hair was like ..... I do get occasional flashbacks though.
Needed this right now. Thanks.
I have already seen Fireproof twice. It could be my new favorite movie of all time.
Girl, you've got some serious truth oozing out of this post! Just beware, the last time I publicly outed that scoundrel, he pulled out the big guns on me. He's stinky like that!
Fireproof is awesome! Saw it Saturday night and we loved it. Call me and let me know what you thought about it.
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