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Love in the Darkness (Love is Kind part 2)

Oct25

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” ~Galatians 6:2

“I’ve tried to peer into the core, But could not storm the sorrow, My hollow heart has bled me dry, left me to stray, Another time without a trace, Condemn me now, Send me to hell, For I’m already failing.” ~ Epica, “Storm The Sorrow”

Today I sent my friend a song. Usually he listens to metal, which admittedly is not my thing. I actually don’t mind the music itself – I think some of the guitar riffs are pretty cool – but the screaming instead of singing is definitely not me, and the lyrics are usually so dark and depressing. And the sad part is, dark and depressing fits him. He lives in a rehab hospital with a terminal illness, rarely gets visitors, goes out only a few times per year, is in constant pain, and has a lifetime of anger he’s dealing with. His temper is unstable and unpredictable, the nurses and staff where he lives fear him, and when I visit him the darkness around him is so thick and oppressive it’s almost tangible. I can tell his spirit is just crying out in pain and loneliness, but rejects all things light. He frequently posts about how miserable he is. Meanwhile, he relates to heavy death metal, embraces it, and surrounds himself with it. The Epica lyrics posted above are just a sample of what surrounds him unceasingly all day long. So usually, when he talks about metal or posts a song, I send him something uplifting (a quote or poem or whatever) to counter it.  But I have to admit, I have known him for 2.5 years now, pray for him often, and only once ever have been able to see the teeniest chink in the armor of darkness. It breaks my heart.

So today, I sent him a song. It was a metal song, but Christian at the same time. The lyrics acknowledged the darkness and desperation in the world….but in the end it also found hope and beauty. I was hoping the song would reach him in a way I couldn’t seem to – that it would meet him in the darkness, and help lift him just a little bit out of it.

As I sent it, and he responded with more metal links (including the less hopeful Epica song I quoted from), I realized something. I had to meet him in the darkness. I couldn’t send him a song to do it, and I couldn’t pray from afar. I had to meet him there, feel the weight of his spirit’s burden, and help him shoulder it. I had to put my preferences and aversion to death metal aside, my aversion to be constantly stereotyped and insulted due to my Christianity, and I had to go to that place of anger and pain and hate. Firmly anchored in Jesus, I went there. I listened to the songs. I will listen again tomorrow. I believe that he sent me songs that resonated with him emotionally, not just arbitrary ones. And so I’ll go where he is emotionally, and I’ll listen. I’ll go where he is, and I’ll talk to him there. I’ll take that darkness, and I won’t try to counter it (I’ll trust Jesus to do that), but I’ll simply help carry it.

Why? Because love is bigger than my own personal preferences. Love is bigger than my sense of judgement. Love means loving someone as they are, not injecting them with the person you think they should be. Love is kind. Kindness doesn’t mean judging someone or changing them. Kindness, true godly kindness, knows no such boundaries or qualifications. Kindness doesn’t merely stand back and point out ‘the right way’. Kindness isn’t afraid to get dirty and physically pull someone out. Think of it this way: you’re stuck in quicksand, and sinking. Possibly to your death (hey, many a movie star has gone before you). The more you struggle, and the more desperate you become, the more you sink. You are stuck and desperate. Two people come along. One stands back and points to where there’s no more quicksand – that’s where you have to go. The other comes along with rope, and goes down to reach you, to help pull you out.  Which person was unconditionally kind? Which person was only kind enough as their self-preservation would allow?

Today, while it only came in the form of a few songs, Jesus told me that He is my rope, and that I have to go into the quicksand with my friend in order to help him climb out. I need to see, as do we all, beyond my sense of self-preservation. I need to love with Jesus’ heart. I can trust Him to move and do the rest, and I can find solace in the fact that I serve a God who casts light on the darkness.

God bless!

~Rebekah A

Fighting Children

Oct14

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. ~Exodus 14:14

Tonight I watched kids at a home church.  It was quite the experience.  Towards the end, one of the children (who I will now refer to as “Bobby”) threw a ball very hard at another child (“Joey”), so much so the second child started crying.  I told Bobby to apologize but he refused, saying he was not sorry. Joey became VERY angry and walked right up to him… I quickly made him back away and told him not to fight him- that God told us to turn the other cheek and to let Him fight our battles.  I then put Bobby in the corner but he refused to stay there.  I then had to hold him there as gently as I could while still keeping control on him staying in the corner despite him punching, pinching, and kicking the whole time. In the end, Bobby did eventually apologize to Joey after being in the corner for over five minutes.

For me, this four year old child was not too much of a challenge- just picking him up under his arms was enough to set him back in the corner and when he’d kick the walls to push me, I could easily lean my body back and keep him in the corner.  I was very much in control of how much he was able to do and yet did not hurt him one bit.  If these two children had duked it out like Joey had wanted, Joey might have gotten hurt even though he was not the one at fault.  As I described this event to my parents on the way home tonight, it struck me just how much it could be applied to our lives as adults!

God’s Word says to let the Lord fight our battles- we just need to hold our peace! Just imagine, our enemies are to Him like that little four year old was to me- easy to deal with despite the kicking and large amounts of protesting from him.  When we try to fight our enemies ourselves, we have so much potential for getting hurt when it is just child’s play for God!  So dear readers, sit back and let God fight your battles for you  and know that not only is He doing it all, He’s keeping you safe by asking you not to involve yourself in retribution for what has been done to you!!!!

Jesus, 

Thank You for protecting me as You fight my battles! Thank You for being such a wonderful, loving Father.  I love You Jesus with all my heart 🙂 

Rebekah M. 

Suspect A Trap (When Sadness Creeps In Part 2)

Oct9

In continuing my current trend of adding to (mooching from?) the posts of my fellow blog writers (as opposed to sharing original thoughts), yesterday I read Rebekah L’s post When Sadness Creeps In. Then I proceeded to text her with my every opinion on the topic. Through her replies and our discussion, God revealed even more. This resulted in two things: 1) a serious need for a better text plan; and 2) a reason to rejoice in the Lord all over again.

As I was reading it, I relived my own struggle with depression, and how my ability to cope with it is directly tied in to my spiritual walk. I also realized that I know of two kinds of sadness in the Bible. The first is the sort one would feel after having a bad day or being hurt by somebody. The second is a more pervasive, weighty sorrow that I associate more with true depression. Yes, it existed. But one thing I’ve noticed is, depression in the Bible does not usually stand alone. Usually, depression goes hand in hand with a time of intercession.

The more I thought about it and went to God with it, the more it just started to make sense. Someone whose heart has been bruised and battered, who has felt pervasive sadness and pain and loss, can look at someone who’s lost and relate to them. Showing Jesus that person becomes less about talking at them about who Jesus is and what they should do to get closer to Him, and more just connecting with their heart. Someone who has been both enveloped by depression and enveloped by the peace of Jesus Christ can reach a lost person on such a deeper level. They can look at this lost person, see where they’re at, and join them there in love – because they know that place. They can also look ahead to where Jesus is; they can see the road that needs to be traveled and the light at the end of the tunnel. Someone in the midst of deep pain can’t necessarily see a way out of it. But someone who has been through it can. And that someone can bridge the gap on such a deeper level than somebody who doesn’t relate to the emotions being felt. That’s what deep intercessory prayer does – we stand in the gap for someone who needs a breakthrough of Jesus. And how much more heartfelt our prayers are when our compassion and love comes from a place of true understanding!

That is the way God would have us use our depression – as a way to draw closer to Him, more dependent on Him, and then ultimately, while He does protect us from our past He also uses it to make up the vessel we are. He is amazing that way – we may not be proud of where we’ve been, but He ensures that we didn’t go there for no reason, that our suffering wasn’t pointless. Thanks Jesus! This, in case you didn’t notice, is the reason to rejoice that I mentioned above. Having traveled the road we have and taken the hits we have, we can now be the exact vessel Jesus needs to use. Maybe someone whose vessel is shinier and less chipped isn’t right for this particular task. And Jesus knows that – He made each of us, after all. Our deepest, darkest moments turned out to be useful. Praise God!

This is why it’s really too bad that so many of us feel shame and guilt over our struggles. I believe this negativity is a lie from Satan himself. He reads our cues, multiplies our sorrow, and tries to turn it into a time of self-doubt and self-loathing. Often, he succeeds. Jesus would have this be a time to draw closer to Him, and instead we hide from Him. Jesus would have this be a time when we use our pain to relate to the pain of others so that we can love deeper and start to see with God’s heart. Satan would have this be a time to pity ourselves or get bogged down and chained by the weight.

So when sadness does come, please don’t hide. Besides, even if you do, Jesus still sees you. But He can’t help you unless you open your heart up to Him and let Him in. Transparency can be key here. When you feel ashamed by emotions, I implore you to suspect a trap. Find a friend you can confide in – yes, you open yourself up to judgement when you discuss yourself. But you also open yourself up to prayer and support, which gets you through it so much faster and grounds you again in your true identity as a servant of Christ.

My prayers are with you. If you’re struggling with something specific and want prayer for it, write to me at being.rebekah.a@gmail.com. God bless!

~Rebekah A

When Sadness Creeps In

Oct8

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” -1 Peter 5:7

Often times as Christians we feel pressured to always exhibit a happy demeanor. A sad Christian is a failing Christian. Or so we’re led to believe. As Christians we celebrate verses of Scripture that tell us to rejoice in Him. We know that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).  We know that the “joy of the Lord” is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and that a “merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). But what happens when that merry heart is not so easy to find? What do we do as Christians when sadness creeps in?

Before I became a Christian I struggled with depression. There were periods in my life where I found it challenging to get out of bed in the morning or to make it through a daily routine. I was put on and taken off of several different anti-depressants over the years. I was plagued by suicidal thoughts. I self-injured on a number of occasions. I tried to self-medicate with substances. Meeting Christ changed all of that for me. When I met Him, I learned what it was to have joy unspeakable!  I was set free from debilitating depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and consuming thoughts of suicide. Praise the Lord!!

But sometimes, I still fall into sadness. It’s nothing like the debilitating depression I had before knowing Him, but I have a tendency not to share this with people because I feel guilty about it. I feel since the Lord has freed me from so much I don’t have a right to feel sad. Ever. I feel selfish when feelings of sadness come on.  Sometimes I let the enemy condemn me for the feelings I have. Or I beat myself up using Scriptures that admonish me to be content with what I have or by reminding myself of people who have many more trials than I do. The trouble is that because I have such negative feelings about sadness, I have a tendency to not deal with them. I try to sweep them under the rug and forget about them.  The problem is that in not dealing with these feelings they actually gain greater control. The best way to move beyond sadness is to acknowledge it and then give it to God.

I’ve come to realize that sadness is a part of life. It’s natural to feel sad when we lose a loved one, go through a break-up, see someone hurting, or watch a dear friend move away. The Lord Himself knew what it was like to experience sadness. He wept in front of Lazarus’ tomb.  In the book of Isaiah, the Bible describes the coming Lord as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The Lord knows what it is to be sad.

David knew what it was to be sad too. He said, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief” (Psalm 31:9-10). In another place in the Bible, David is recorded as saying, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? (Psalm 42:5). There are many recorded examples of sadness in the Bible. Jeremiah was referred to as the “weeping profit”. Nehemiah was so sad that the king himself asked him what was wrong. Job knew grief, as did Solomon. Isaiah was so depressed he prayed to die!

If you are reading this and your countenance is down, know that you are not alone! You are in good company. You don’t have to pretend to be happy if you aren’t. It doesn’t make you less of a Christian, it simply makes you human. I have found that although I still fall into sadness at times that it doesn’t have to last long if I am consistent about handing it over to God.

You don’t have to feel anxious or ashamed of your emotions, but you do need to deal with them.  If sadness has crept in on you the first thing you need to do is to acknowledge it. Then you need to search your heart to see if there is any chance the sadness is connected to sin present in your life. If it is, repent and ask God to help keep you from falling into that sin in the future. Once we take care of sin, there are a couple of very helpful things we can do to move beyond sadness.  Below are a few of the things I have found helpful in my own walk with God.

In the natural:

  • Exercise – I have found nothing better than exercise for chasing away the blues.
  • Healthy Eating – Eating clean, healthy food the way God intended it.
  • Sleep – Adequate sleep is invaluable to our emotional well-being.

In the spiritual:

  • Thanksgiving – Having a heart of gratitude will do wonders for moving beyond sadness. When we focus on all the things we have to be thankful for, we don’t have time to focus on the things that bring us down!
  • Giving – Giving of our time and resources to those less fortunate than ourselves takes the focus off of our circumstances and on to others.
  • Worship – Again, this gets the focus off of us, and on to Him! He is our everything. He deserves our worship in the good times and in the sad times. The more we worship Him, the more He envelops us in His presence. It’s really hard to stay sad when you are in the presence of Almighty God!

If you’ve tried all that and it seems that none of it is working, don’t despair.  Keep giving it to God (1 Peter 5:7) and keep worshiping Him. Allow Him to work in you and through you. Remind yourself that even the mighty men of God in the Bible experienced sadness, loneliness, and depression. Never give up on God; He will never give up on you. 

In His Love,

-Rebekah L.

Forgiveness and Renewal Revisited

Oct7

This past weekend was my birthday and just as he seems to have always had the “perfect timing” ever since we broke up- Ex #1 posted on facebook that he was engaged and of course a friend felt the need to tell me.  I have come to realize something- our minds are our major battle ground.  I have allowed resentment, bitterness, anger and even a touch of hatred enter my heart not only for him, but for his friends who had at one point said I was like a part of their family but dropped me faster than a hot potato once things fell apart between he and I.  I keep thinking of his church as a “den of snakes” for he had told me that it was part of their gossip that drove him to dump me- even his pastor’s wife was involved in it. Last weekend was one of the potential (and most likely) dates for the wedding we were starting to plan. As more and more people get married right when I had thought I would be around this time last year, the bitterness grew.

Bitterness, anger, and hatred only breed destruction of ourselves.  

God doesn’t want us to harbor these things for they poison our soul. As the preacher this morning said, “Bitterness is like cholesterol clogging your spiritual arteries.” You may not realize how bad it is until you die of a heart attack.

This morning, God cleaned out my spiritual arteries. 

I prayed at the alter, the tears falling down as my hair covered my face, and I forgave my ex for each and every time he yelled at me, berated me, made me feel ugly by demanding I go to the gym, and hurt me. Then I forgave the others in my life who have hurt me. Another church that turned their back on me. A pastor’s wife who attacked my character to everyone she had put under me as the Sunday School director as well as anyone else who would listen.  A professor who tried to get me kicked out of medical school for her mistake.  My ex’s friends who abandoned me in my darkest hour despite having claimed to call me family.  As I sit here now I know what happened this morning truly happened- when I prayed forgiveness to all those people I felt His forgiveness not only wash over me, but also extend to those who had wronged me.  I realized that it was not MY forgiveness, but HIS.  He forgave me for harboring these horrible things within me and all my other sins and that forgiveness overflowed in me enough to flow out to everything else.

I am free. 

Then tonight another preacher preached on Jesus healing the man with the withered hand.  Life can cause us to become deformed. Hurts we endure can scar a part of us so badly we don’t want anyone else to see. We do whatever we can to hide it- even using our “normal” limb for handshakes so no one realizes the other is blemished. We act like everything is fine to our friends and family. When Jesus says “stretch for thy hand,” however, we need to realize and believe in faith that He means the deformed part of us so that He can make it new.  He can heal us.  Once again, I cried at the alter, this time seeking God on renewing my hope.  Renewing my belief that He intends good things for my life.  He did.

I am healed. I am whole. 

God has renewed my soul. He has to first take out the muck of hatred, anger, bitterness, and resentment so that He could then perform a healing within me.  Readers- I implore you to look within yourself and see if there is anything that says “I know what she means,” for if you do- seek to do the same! I did not do this on my own but I can tell you for a fact that the dark clouds and heavy burden I had felt is now lifted!!! What a mighty, wonderful God we serve!!!! Thank You Lord for healing my soul. Thank You Lord for taking away the resentment and anger.  Thank You Lord for renewing hope within my soul!!! 

I Love You Jesus with all my heart. 

Rebekah M. 

Song of the Day: Walk on the Water by Britt Nicole

Sep14

Why is it so hard to walk on the water Lord? Why is it so hard to step out of the boat and just keep my eyes focused on You?  Why can’t the things in this world stop swirling around me and just calm? Lord… help me step out towards You. Help me reach you and once we walk back together to the boat, in an instant, You can and will calm the storm.

I love You Jesus with all my heart.

Perfect Peace

Sep4

 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” –Isaiah 26:3

Yesterday through Facebook I got a frantic message that a very good friend of mine was in a motorcycle accident. It was a terrifying moment for me. I kept rereading the words and trying to make sense of them. I felt incredibly helpless. This friend lives on the other side of the globe and there was nothing I could do to help him. Or even to get more information.

How did it happen? Was he hurt? Would he be okay? Is he in the hospital?

I had so many questions and so little information. I was scared of losing him. “Please please please let him be okay”, I prayed, feeling the emotion welling up inside me. Irrationally, I considered going to the airport immediately to catch the next plane to get to where he is. There was a time that he and I had planned to get married and I still love him deeply even if the nature of that love has shifted. To consider that he might be seriously injured and I wasn’t with him was more than I knew how to handle. I really did not know what to do with myself. I kept refreshing my Facebook page over and over again, hoping for a new message from his friend. I was desperate for more information. I felt paralyzed. Absolutely helpless. The fear rising up in me was fierce.

Then suddenly it occurred to me that even from half way across the world, there was something I could do for him. I could trust God, and I could pray. My focus then shifted from the situation to God. I remembered that God is the Creator, the Almighty, and our Healer. Everything is in His hands. When I began to meditate on that, I immediately felt peace. I knew God was taking care of the situation. This time when I prayed, I prayed with the assurance that God was in control and no matter what happened He would still be in control. I reminded myself that this man knows the Lord. If the very worst should happen, he is still safe in the Lord’s care. Regardless of how long he has life on this earth, he has the promise of eternal life with the King.

I became completely filled with His peace. It is difficult to even explain it, but every ounce of fear left me. I was able to completely surrender the situation to Him. I continued to pray for my friend for mercy and healing, but it was no longer a prayer out of selfish desperation. It was a prayer based on who the Lord is and knowing what He is capable of doing. Mostly, I just prayed that the Lord’s will be done. I knew without a doubt that it would be.

A few hours later I got the message that my friend will be fine. He is scraped up, bruised up, and has a broken wrist, but he has no internal injuries. He will make a full recovery. The worst of my fears were not even remotely realized. If I had not surrendered to God, I would have spent all the time making myself sick with worry. All of my worry would not have accomplished anything.

I praise God that he is okay! Thank you Jesus for protecting my friend! I know it could have been much worse and the mercy of the Lord has kept him for another day. Thank you, Jesus for your peace in the midst of a storm. Thank you for calming the waves of fear and teaching me once again to trust in you!

Dear Reader, when you feel helpless, when a situation is beyond your control; it is never beyond God. He will give you perfect peace if you trust Him to handle every situation that comes up in life. In scary moments when loved ones may be hurt or in danger, give all of your fears and concerns the Lord. He will carry you through every difficult circumstance in your life if you let Him.

-Rebekah L.

Letter to a Stranger

Sep1

This is from an email I was going to write someone …

I’m not even sure why I’m sharing this with you- a virtual stranger, but I’ve found when I allow myself to be transparent, people are encouraged, challenged, or touched by Jesus. This whole “seeking Jesus thing” is really not going as I have planned.

I know what I need to do and yet I just am fighting it- I’m fighting Him. I just… don’t want to push so hard anymore.  Dig so much.  He provided all that I needed/wanted during my desert time and yet a huge part of me is soo hesitant to go back into that…. both guys I dated I felt so strongly that God was in it… at first… I prayed so much against meeting my most recent ex if Jesus didn’t have anything for us to learn/grow from it. Clearly He must have, but part of me is angry, frustrated that once again, He allowed some guy to come into my life and rip into me. Just like how He allowed the first to rip me to shreds.  

How is it that I can charge Him with the sins of others and yet not see that although He willingly takes the blame, He did not actually inflict the pain? Why is it that I feel like I need to forgive Him for not watching out for me when He is the one who has forgiven me of so much?  Why do I always feel like I give so much of who I am so freely to others and all they do is see it, rip it to shreds, and throw it in the trash? Where is my Isaac that I thought would be here and why can’t I learn to fully be content in my moments? Why can’t I just truly wait in peace in Him and the promises He has for me?  My heart wants to cry “Where are You Jesus?” and yet I know where He is… He’s waiting… but just like how I’m afraid of trusting any guys again, I’m afraid of trusting Him since part of me blames Him for even allowing them in my life in the first place.  Why must growing and learning hurt SO MUCH?  I miss the safety of not knowing. I miss the bliss of being naive to the world. 

I realized while talking to a close friend of mine that I had become the Ex#2 in my relationship with Jesus- texting no more than once or twice a day and talking once or twice a week on the phone.  Jesus doesn’t want that.  Jesus doesn’t want me to be Ex #2 in my relationship with Him.  He wants to hear from me every day as much as I wanted to hear from Ex #2.  It doesn’t detract from His worth when I don’t talk to Him, it just means that He just wants to get to know me better and let me know Him better.

Yet part of me fights…. I realize I haven’t allowed myself to fully grieve over the fact that once again I was dumped. I hurt from the shame of being dumped again. I hurt from feeling like I was ready to put my heart out there and was once again pushed away.  I hurt and part of me wants to blame God since I can’t take my anger out on my ex.

Lord, 

Just take it.  Bind me up again.  Release me from this pain.  Purge me of the darkness and dirt. Help me find what You wanted me to take away from the relationship.  I’m going to stop fighting You. I see now- it wasn’t Your fault and it’s not fair to be angry at You when I really want to be angry with myself and my ex. If You want me to be single forever, so be it.  If You want me to marry, whomever it may be, so be it. I give it all to You now. Whomever or even no body, You make that choice for me.  You lead and guide my steps.  You show me what I must do.  Be my everything again.  Help me not be distracted by guys but let the right guy become an encouragement to me.. if there is to be a guy.  Let him edify my walk with You as I edify his.  Let our future children (if I have any) glorify Your name from the moment they can speak.  Nothing would be better than if their first word was “Jesus.”  Lord, I so badly want all that I am and do to be consumed by You and the things of You.  I’m sorry I was angry at You. I’m sorry I blamed You when all You wanted was for me to find comfort in You.  I love You Jesus with all my heart. 

Rebekah M. 

Song of the Day – Glorious

Aug27

This song has been on my heart today. First of all, I was so excited for my friend Chris to not reject prayer….only to have him trounce it again the next day.  I was so excited that an atheist saw me comment about Christianity on facebook (commenting on a claim that every bible other than the King James Bible was from the devil), and then friended me so that we could talk more about Jesus…..only to have him never write back to me and in fact publicly insult me. So many little miracles happening lately….with so many setbacks. Perhaps I’m reading too much into the miracles? Seeing progress where there isn’t any? Or perhaps there’s a battle of sorts going on for these two men’s souls. Meanwhile, an agnostic friend is taking quite an interest in Christianity – he’s not totalllly ready to accept God’s existence, but we’ve been chatting extensively and he’s been getting a lot of his “If God exists, how come suffering does too?” questions answered. So it’s been good. I understand the process he’s going through – I went through the same thing!

It’s all a bit of a whirlwind.

But this song reminded me: when in doubt, worship. Put yourself at His altar and rejoice there. Because through it all, God is glorious. And He is worthy. And no matter what actions I may see my friends make or what words they may say, my prayers are heard. And at the sound of my praise, the heavens and the earth will move.

Enjoy!


God bless!

~Rebekah A

 

When the Enemy Swarms

Aug23

Recently some dear people in my life have been under the attack of the enemy. The Bible says “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). God truly showed up right on time to fight the battle on their behalf. It got me thinking about how an attack of the enemy is never a surprise to God. The enemy may plan well, but he is no match for our Savior! But we have to do our part; when we are under attack there are specific things we can do increase our chances of success and bring glory to the Lord. We may occasionally lose a battle, but victory belongs to Jesus! Knowing what to do when you are under attack can reduce the damage and length of the affliction. If you find yourself under attack:

Put on the Armor of God

God never intended for us to go into battle unprepared. He has given us the armor we need (see Ephesians 6:10-18) to face the enemy. Always remember that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual darkness. The key is to use truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, and salvation as our defense and use the Word of God as our weapon to destroy the enemy.

Cry out to Jesus

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Get to your prayer closet and pour out your heart to the Lord. The bible makes statements such as “God heard” and the “Lord heareth” and “His ears are open unto their cry” hundreds of times throughout the scriptures! He knows what you are going through, don’t be afraid to share your every concern and frustration with Him.

Turn to your support system

When we are under attack we have a tendency to distance ourselves from the people that care about us. Resist the temptation to isolate yourself. That only leads to depression and self-pity. God places people in our lives to be His hands and mouth-piece. He may comfort you through your support system.

Don’t get mad at God

There is a propensity in the human spirit to blame God whenever things go wrong. As difficult as it can be to understand at times, God will not override our free-will. God is also sovereign. We may not understand why we have to go through what we go through, but in the end God is still God. He loves you unconditionally and he came to this earth as a man to die for you. In light of that, there is nothing in our lives that warrants anger towards the Creator.

Forgive

Although this is one of the most difficult things to do during times of distress it is also one of the most important. If you don’t forgive those who have hurt you, that unforgiveness will turn into bitterness. Bitterness is like a poison that slowly destroys you. Jesus taught that if we are unwilling to forgive, neither will our Father forgive us.

Encourage yourself in the Lord

When David’s enemies sought to stone him, the bible says that he encouraged himself in his God. That means that he put his trust completely in God and turned over all his woes and fears to Him. How did David encourage himself? He remembered! David reminded himself of all the good things God had already done for him in the past! When you are under attack it is vital that you remember what He has already done for you. If he helped you before he will do it again!

Put on the garments of praise

There is one sure way to shake off the spirit of heaviness and that is by putting on the garment of praise. The scriptures tell us that God inhabits the praises of his people! When you take the focus off your problems and put your focus on Him you will begin to put things into perspective. It is hard to stay down when you are praising the Most High God. Remember “all things work together for the good of them that love Him” (Romans 8:28). That doesn’t mean all things are good, it means that no matter what happens, God can and will use it for your good.

When you are under attack it is important to remember that you are not alone. During times of distress the devil would like you to think that God has abandoned you or that you are the only human being to ever go through a trial. Satan is a liar and God will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Don’t forget that!

~Rebekah L