“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
We have all heard the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Actually, it's a line segment connecting point A to point B. That's the classic answer in mathematics. But if the enemy is point A and God is point B it is not always a straight line, in fact it can be a twisted, squiggly line and you may even travel the wrong direction at times. The fact is that the closer you move toward point B (God) the further you move from point A (the enemy). It's really quite simple. The more you focus on God and moving toward Him, the less ability the enemy has to distract you. I will admit, for many years I sat in the middle. I was just as close to God as I was the enemy. When things got bad, I scooted toward God and complained that the devil was too close to me, but when things got better, I drifted back toward point A. It's really kind of humorous.
God has so much to offer us. Everything we need. But we tend to use only a few of the gifts and promises. What does the guy who stays in the middle look like? Well, I would guess he wakes in the morning and throws back his baby blanket, instead of the thick comforter God has folded at the foot of his bed. He stretches and heads to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, which is really hot water, because he didn't use the coffee grounds, God offered him. He skips breakfast, not even a slice of the bread offered to him. Then he scans the front page of the paper, but he doesn't finish one article, because the front page is all he would take. He turns up the heat, but it does no good, because his house does not have walls to protect him, because he believed a roof alone would be enough. As he gets dressed for work he only puts on the helmet of salvation, leaving the rest of his armor hanging in his closet.
But then one day the buckle on the belt of truth sparkles and catches his attention. He stares at it for several minutes, afraid that it might be uncomfortable tightened around his waist. He would spend several mornings staring at the belt hanging there as he tries to work up the courage to put it on. Finally, after years of thinking about it and bored with his life, he takes the belt down from the nail where it had been placed and he slips it around his body. As he clasps the buckle the Son rises over the hill and lights up his home. He sees the silliness in his house with no walls, and he then realizes most of the houses on his street are missing important things, like doors and windows. His next door neighbor only has a cement slab. He is no better and no worse. He takes the day off from work and heads to town to buy lumber. He will start with finishing his house and then he will move on to the next area of change.
Usually when I start writing God will bring a memory I have buried to the surface. If I am paying attention, I will realize how it fits in with what I am writing about. This mornings memory is from about 20 years ago. My sister and I were following a van, painted flat black with stickers and sayings painted all over it. On the back door of the van someone had painted, "The mind is a terrible thing to taste." Maybe it is because Jeffrey Dahmer was still fresh in our minds, but I'm pretty sure we both got the same gruesome picture. We smiled at each other and turned off the road we were on only to get away from whatever was in that van. Today I wonder why this memory is so fresh, so I look up the definition of taste. "To distinguish the flavor of by taking into the mouth." "To appreciate or enjoy." The biggest battle we fight is in our minds. I have to wonder what God sees when He gets a little taste of my mind.
Fear of the truth. There are many scriptures on truth. There are many scriptures on fear. To fear is to not believe the truth of God's word. There are many fears that stop us from pursuing God. To fear is a sin. I have a hard time with this. My fear can be overwhelming. It feels out of my control. I have been reading and studying fear this last week and it sounds so simple to "turn it over" to God, but I'm finding it a little difficult because I have been afraid for so long, and fear is safe. It keeps me safe, because in the world way of thinking it's part of survival.
I have heard all my life that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. This statement is not true. If you look back at all the stories in the Bible you will see this. Think about who and what Moses faced. Noah was labeled as crazy working on that ark. Joseph? Job? Seriously? They all got more than they could handle. They all faced more than any of us could handle. The common denominator in these and many other Bible stories is their faith in God. God never gives us more than He can handle. It is in our measure of faith.
Worry and stress reek of arrogance. Do we not believe God is big enough to handle our stuff? Is ours more important than the next guy? We hear it all the time. I think it myself without realizing that is what I'm thinking. When one person says I have a problem and then the next person says "Yeah, well here is my problem". What they are saying is that their problem is bigger. Maybe God can handle what you lay at His feet, but whoa mine is too big? Look what the enemy has given to me.
When we step away from God and get offended by the enemy's actions, we step out of God's will and into Satan's. The enemy uses offense to control our minds. We can get offended by what happens to someone else and feel more justified in our sin because it is through caring and loving others. The enemy will try to get us offended at God and His people. God will place us in a church and the enemy will try to offend us out of it. Offense keeps us from seeing our own character defects, because blame is deferred to another.
For example, recently I was presented with something I really wanted to do, but I was afraid. Every time I even thought about it, the fear would overwhelm me to the point of fighting back tears. The enemy went to work. First he reminded me of all the times I was afraid. He reminded me how I had turned and ran. He convinced me from the past, that I would do the same. There was something I wanted to do, but when fear gripped me, I knew I would never succeed. Anger set in. I became angry with everything and everyone in any way related to what I wanted to do. I convinced myself that I didn't really want to do it. I pushed everyone away. In the end, I felt very alone, angry at people who had done nothing, and feeling like a complete failure, again. The most amazing part of this to me is that I truly don't even want to do it anymore.
Now what? All I know to do is bury myself in the truth God shows me. I read. I read His word. I read about fear. I read about obeying. I read about the truth. I have always told my kids to put themselves in another's shoes to see where they are coming from, but now I put a friend in my shoes to see how I would advise her. Is she (me) being irrational? Is she seeing clearly? What is the real fear? Yes, my God is big enough for my problems. Where is my faith lacking then? Does He love me enough to never leave me or forsake me? I know He loves you enough, but does He really love me enough to walk me through the things He wants me to face? He brought me here. He's walked me through hundreds of things in the last year that I have faced. Why would He stop now? He never changes? Can I?
Lately I hear "Die to live." "Die to self" Jesus died on the cross so we could live. We must do the same. Die to self is in the mind. Die to fear, die to sin, wrong thinking, arrogance, unbelief, our own will, and become Christ-like in our thinking. I'm not a huge Dr. Phil fan, but there are two things he says that I really like. The first, "How's that working for you?" The way we have been thinking, feeling, living and handling life has brought us to our knees in front of God, but as soon as we gain a little strength we go back to the old ways until we are knocked to our knees again. Pride goes before a fall.
The other thing He says is when a person wants to end a relationship. "You have to earn your way out of this." Today we leave relationships like changing clothes and this is a huge battle for me. Things get a little difficult and I walk away. What Dr. Phil is saying is have you done all you can to make it work before you decide it won't work? We tend to think we are doing everything to fix it, while the other person is doing nothing, in fact it feels like they are going out of their way to kill it.
We go back to the line - Point A to Point B. The line is on the side of the mountain and point B (God) seems so far up the side of the hill and to put one foot in front of the other one more time seems impossible. I'm tired, I'm weak, do I really care enough? I find a stump and sit to rest. The view is okay from here. Maybe I will just sit here for awhile and forget about the fear, the truth, the climb. Then there is a little tap on my shoulder and a voice says, "Get up. I will walk with you, I will hold your hand or carry you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am the example so you may follow in my footsteps." Suddenly, the view from here is not satisfying any longer. I must climb higher so I can see more of this amazing view.
Jeremiah 1:4-19 New International Version (NIV)
The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. ”
6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11 The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching[b] to see that my word is fulfilled.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”
“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”
14 The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.
“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.
17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
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