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Hello friends, I’m back.
I took a break from social media and blogging, and let me tell ya, it felt good!!! There are so many reasons why, but mainly, I was just tired of it all. I think you can probably relate. I think a lot of us are just….tired.
Maybe not you, but I was tired of scrolling and scrolling, then, when I finally put my phone down, feeling emotions I couldn’t put words to (except that they were negative). I was tired of watching life fly by faster than I could live it, and fighting anxiety that is totally unhealthy.
I’m also totally done with our current events. Anyone else? (All the hands go up).
By “tired” I don’t just mean you had to wake up a bit earlier than you wanted to today. I mean you have forgotten how to enter that place of restful sleep, you are out of words to say, and have begun to lose your interest in everything. I mean truly, utterly exhausted. I mean straight up weary.
Weary is a dangerous place to hang out.
Especially in the day and age we are living in right now.
When we are truly exhausted we can’t operate at our highest potential, or any potential at all. Our brains get foggy and we feel stuck in molasses while the rest of the world appears to be hopped up on energy juice and caffeine pills. We are always playing catch-up never pulling ahead.
I know you know what I’m talking about. We don’t sleep right, eat right, or feel right. It’s a downward spiral, and we feel like we just can’t get a grip.
Unfortunately, we have an enemy that knows this. First and foremost, please remember that he is a defeated foe, never forget that! The blood that Jesus shed on the cross was more than enough to defeat, forever, the enemy of our souls. BUT, he is a deceiver. He works overtime to convince us that Jesus sacrifice wasn’t enough. Worst of all, our enemy’s most productive working hours are when you and I are tired.
Apathy creeps in. You know, when you’re just too tired to care….and then it’s too late and you care.
Bunny trail alert, kinda, it’s related, just go with me for a second.
I have to tell you about this one thing that happens more often than I care to admit, and it causes a reaction in me I’m even more embarrassed to admit. It pushes me to a level of exhaustion in which I behave like a child, and just want to curl up and cry.
Here it is, every so often, I crawl into bed, bone-tired after a long day of sibling negotiations and toddler mess-management, only to have my darling husband (whom I love more than words can describe) ask me this question that causes said embarrassing childlike urge to breakdown and assume the fetal position.
“Is the front door locked?”
(Not the question you were expecting was it?)
But seriously, it’s like, I barely made it into my bed in the first place, and now I have to peel back the worlds most comfortable duvet and climb out of the worlds most comfortable bed, fall down a flight of stairs, to a front door, that may actually be locked, then resist the sassy attitude towards my husband as I drag myself back up those stairs and climb into bed with a smile and an “all good sweetheart.” before blacking out.
It’s a stupid story, and I know that none of you actually care if I lock my front door or not, but the purpose of me telling it is because I want to ask you a very important question.
Is your front door locked?
Let’s get all deep and metaphorical for a minute here. We already addressed that when we are weary we are literally tired in every way there is to be tired. We stop caring, we stop talking, we stop living and fall back on autopilot.
The problem is that there is no such thing as neutral territory in the spirit. You and I don’t get a “timeout” in this battle we are in. There is an enemy and there is a Saviour. Our Lord Jesus Christ has defeated death and the grave for us, so the battle is not ours to fight. Sounds contradictory, I know, hang in there.
The Victor and the Vanquished have already been determined. Satan will forever burn in the lake of fire, and Jesus is seated at the right hand of God for eternity. Where you and I stand is another story. While we aren’t waging war on Satan we are choosing which side we want to stand on.
We don’t have to wait until we’re dead to experience heaven or hell. We are tasting eternity right now.
Which one are you experiencing in your life?
Did you lock the front door?
We are warned to consider well our every thought, and to bring them into obedience with Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). The Holy Spirit let’s us know that if we don’t intentionally lock up that door and choose what comes in and what gets kicked out the thief will barge in and set up camp.
Negative, fearful, or wrong thoughts mulled over in our minds will cause instability in our emotions. They soon play the role of a busy toddler who has just figured out how to work the locks. Despair in our thinking leaves emotions unmonitored and before you know it they’re down the street taking candy from creepy Joe refusing to come back inside.
So in these crazy days when normalcy doesn’t exist and “rules” (who’s in charge of our freedoms and choices anyway? Just a good question to ask) are changing from day to day, it is more important than ever to be fully awake!
How?
When the rest of the world seems either up in arms, or checked out completely, how do we stay alert and clear-headed?
Isaiah 40:29-31 in the Amplified Bible tells us,
He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. [II Cor. 12:9.] Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. [Heb. 12:1-3.]
If we want to stay fully charged we have to remain plugged in to our Source. Isaiah tells us that HE renews our strength. Our strength cannot be renewed any other way, but by being with, (a.k.a. in the presence of) our Lord and Saviour.
Study John 15 for more on this. A vine cannot grow without a branch. We need to remain connected to God Almighty! Not for 30 minutes a day, but all day, all the time.
Think about it like this (I like stories today).
I invite you over for dinner. You’re so polite you show up 5 minutes early. I answer the door with a smile, and usher you in. “Would you like anything to drink?” I ask as I set out the chips and salsa (because we are REALLY good friends).
I turn back to my prep, chopping and dicing like Gordon Ramsay (because we are imagining), but during that time we keep chatting. I’m checking my pots on the stove and my food in the oven while we laugh at that hilarious thing you did three years ago.
As I’m filling cups with ice and mixing the iced tea you ask me a super personal question and we dive right on in to a deep and meaningful conversation. You start putting plates and cutlery out on the table and as you do you even begin to tear up a bit because you’re sharing your heart in a safe environment.
I bring the food to the table and after setting it down I turn to give you a hug. We sit down at the table, and our conversation is barely broken by our eating.
The night goes on, and we cover everything from politics to religion, from business to pleasure, that episode of that show we like, and which books we’re reading right now (obviously we don’t have kids in this imaginary scenario).
We talk about EVERYTHING.
This is like our walk with the Lord. There are times of practical living that must be done, but the deeper our relationship with him, the easier it is to have deep spiritual connection even while operating in our natural, normal life.
There are times that we set aside for intentional conversation, like studying the word or private prayer (heart to heart’s or date night with the Lord). Then there are times when we are changing diapers, buying groceries, working, watching soccer practice, whatever it is, our attention isn’t undivided, but the Lord is still with us.
If we are speaking body language, we are always turned to Jesus. Sometimes there’s more eye contact and we lean in a little closer. Sometimes we just feel the warmth of him beside us, or a gentle squeeze of our hand in his.
Our walk of faith is about learning to live intentionally in his presence at all times. Many of us are living like God’s not even in the room. Friend, I love you, but I have to tell you, that’s rude. Don’t be rude to Papa God.
Remember when you came over for dinner in imaginary land, I didn’t completely ignore you until we sat down at the table for our intentional together time. Why do we ignore the Lord until it’s “Devotional time”?
If we’ve learned anything in this season of chaos it’s how to be more present and less busy. Mostly it’s been out of the need to survive. We can’t think about all the extras when we are just trying to make sure our kids get educated and we have some kind of income coming in. We have been practicing survival.
That was never God’s intention for us. John 10:10 tells us
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows). – John 10:10 (AMPC)
I have been so challenged by this lately. Ephesians 6:10-18 is an incredible section of scripture to meditate on right now. Verse 10 and 11 read like this,
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
To stand against the enemy without being mentally, emotionally, or spiritually shaken is not a defensive strategy. We can’t just wake up and take a stand. Before we can stand we have to “be strong in the Lord [empowered through our union with Him]”. That means spending some time with our Heavenly Father, getting to know his heart concerning a matter.
Then we have to get dressed. “Put on God’s whole armor”. God has given us everything we need, but it won’t do us any good if we don’t pick it up and put it on. Truth, peace, joy, righteousness, faith, and the Spirit himself are the clothes the Lord has provided. They all hang in our closets waiting to be selected and intentionally put on.
We are always to be dressed and ready, on the offence. Not IN offence, but ON offence. I repeat, when Ephesians tells us to “stand” it is not giving us a defensive strategy but an offensive one.
Psalm 91:1 explains it this way,
He who [a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].
So for the months of October and November I did not go on social media. I was tired, nay, weary. I knew that social media would bring out the ugly in me, the side of me that was apathetic, exhausted and done caring. I didn’t blog because as my mother always told me, “if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all.”
Just because we feel entitled to our opinions doesn’t mean everyone else wants to be.
I took two whole months to reconnect with the God of love, hope, peace, and joy. I plugged into my power source. I stopped listening to the news, and reading everything everyone sent my way, and took more time to read the word of God and soak up more faith teaching from solid, Holy-Spirit filled men and women.
It took two months for my confidence, my peace, my trust in Jesus, and my awareness of my Heavenly Father’s love to be brought back to the forefront of my mind, will, and emotions. I had left the front door unlocked and it took two whole months to clean out all the squatters.
The door is locked now. Windows sealed. Peace is inside, and all the fruit of the spirit will be it’s cohorts.
So how are you friend?
Is your front door locked?
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
P.S. If some or a lot of what you’ve read is new to you, or you’re not sure what to make of it, head over to my Books & Resources for some of the teaching resources that have taught me on my journey to live by faith.
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