Them's fightin' words...

I really feel as if I'm under attack right now. I'm fighting it hard, but it seems like I'm continually finding reasons to be upset, things to stew about. Which itself upsets me, because I want to be happy, easy going, and fun. And try as I do, it seems that each time I decide this, another little chunk of grumpiness is thrown my way.

But I'm determined to fight back. En garde! I'll start here, with my encouraging word for today. "The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives," Psalm 37:23. If God's delighting in my details, what business do I have moaning and groaning about what I see; about my temporary, fleeting circumstances? He's excited, delighted in fact, about where I am, because He knows where I'm going. It seems it's time for me to put up or... well you can see where this is going. If I say I have faith in Him, and that I have faith that He has a plan for me, and if I believe what He says here about what He does for His children, how all my mistakes are forgotten, I'm innocent, that He loves me, then it's time to show it.

My trials, my valleys, are my chance to demonstrate my faith in and my love for God. The Bible never said it would all be easy, simple. In 1 Peter 5:6-10, Simon Peter tells that I should be humble, admitting that I'm struggling, that I've messed up. Tell Him everything I'm fearful of, everything I have concerns about because if I don't, there are always temptations just around the corner. Those little enticements, waiting to prey upon my tiniest insecurities, my vulnerabilities, my fears. If I tell God, though, how and where I'm struggling, it's like I've preempted that temptation, that enticement. He wants to reward my efforts, supporting me that extra bit I need to move past that indescretion, that black mark. He'll help me fight back. He wants to patch me up, arm me with the right tools to step back into the ring and give that lure a good TKO punch. And if necessary, have me tag Him into the ring, and really take care of serious bees-ness.

He wants me to know that the things I experience aren't unique, aren't obscure, aren't isolating. Many others are struggling with the same temptations, the same lures, the same thoughts. Those thoughts of isolation, uniqueness, and ultimately unlovability (is that a real word?!?) are enticement from another, lesser source, trying to pull me from God's love and His warm embrace. I am loved, through my trials and inspite of my mistakes, and that fear planted by other sources is nothing in comparison to His loving grace and compassion. He won't save me from the consequences of my indescretions, but He'll lovingly restore me after it, helping me to learn from my decisions, and drawing me closer to Him.

So I'm getting ready to fight. I'm training hard, learning the words to say in response to that voice that tells me I can't..., I shouldn't..., I don't.... Them's fightin' words, and I'm fightin' back. En garde!