Buried alive

Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a cloud of discouragement unable to see anything ahead of or behind you? Or used all the tools you had and tried everything possible to push through its muck, yet you still couldn’t find the strength to plow through? It’s like being shoved in a pit and buried alive. No matter how loud you scream or how strong you think you are, there’s no way out. You’re stuck, and all you hear are endless lies like “you’ll never make it out”, “you’re not smart enough to figure a way out”, “just forget it, you’re not cut out for this”. But somehow all along you knew the problem wasn’t believing whether or not you KNEW how to handle the situation, or believed in yourself to handle it, it was being strong enough with the tools you had to push hard through the muck and get to the other side alive.

The cloud of discouragement usually forms when you try something new, develop skills, and are surrounded by gifted and skillful people you struggle to avoid comparing yourself to. It often comes by surprise and can come while you’re in a peak of joy, or when you’re experiencing the blues. It will creep up on you unexpectedly, and probably when you are feeling your strongest. Everything else in the world will seem unreachable and you will find yourself wanting to give up more than ever. If you are a perfectionist overcomer, it will probably feel like you ran face first into a glass wall, and along side of being surrounded by discouragement you’ll create your own. Don’t be fooled; discouragement usually begins with a minor detail that quickly attracts an army of truth-sucking leeches that strip you of your worth. When it clings to you it has the power to overtake you.

Lies alone, on the other hand, can bury you quicker than you can find strength to rebuke them. It’s one thing to listen to them, and another to act on them. The minute they find your ears and you allow them to latch on to your mind you’re in for a battle. Your world quickly turns ugly because if you believe the lies are true, you believe the truth is a lie. The devastating part is that if you allow them, lies will wrap themselves around each other and eventually form such a powerful resistance in you that each truth you even attempt to bring against each lie will repel. Before you know it you’ll find yourself so entangled in the lies that suffocating in them becomes normal. That is an extremely dangerous place to be and if you continue feeding those lies to your mind you’ll continue to spiral downward.

Give yourself the benefit of knowing that it's natural for this process to be painful. Lies are not pleasant, and discouragement is not uplifting. All of it pierces your heart, it stings and it burns... it just plain hurts. Don't feel guilty for feeling the way you do. Instead, take a breather, refocus, take care of business, and surround yourself with people who can be an encouragement TO you. This is not a fight you should or can face alone.

However and whenever the cloud forms and lies linger around you, realize they are demons you must destroy. And remember, you can have all the tools to fight against the lies and discouragement, but you’ll fail if you try to fight alone. The power that’s at work within you is real, and only if used while partnering with your Number One Fan, will the lies will be shattered and the cloud of discouragement dissipate. So, see yourself with eternal eyes and trust that whatever challenges you face are just another reason to believe you CAN push through the muck, and another reason for you to appreciate how far you HAVE come. Here’s an idea: when you sense the cloud and hear the lies, choose to immediately encounter the One who’s already fighting for you. Once you believe His word about you, which is everything opposite of the CRAP whispered in your ear during those new adventures, you are empowered to speak the very truth that buries those lies alive.
…Believe in Him, and believe in yourself. You ARE a conqueror of mighty worth to your King and others, and you have been divinely placed right where you are for many reasons. Stand firm, keep pushing, and be free! :)

Falling into love

Who wants to love someone who betrays you, slanders you and speaks and spreads gossip about you? How about those people who push your patience button by yelling over you when you talk, or those who judge you wrongly and do everything to set you up for failure? And, can't forget the ones who have abandoned you, destroyed your self-esteem and lied to you. Sure their biting words and behavior create a wound in you that is overwhelmingly painful to heal, and you highly dislike them for it, but if you truly desire to be an overcomer and live freely, you must play by different rules. Revenge is not an option, having a bad attitude only sets YOU up for your own failure, and the “silence” game does nothing for you or your enemy. Talk about shoving yourself in a prison cell and locking the door! Truth is, you need to love. And that love, literately, starts with you.

Jesus knew His people could only give what they had, and he understood the power of loving yourself before you could love others. In response to the Good Samaritan’s question about what he has to do to inherit eternal life Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 27:10).Certainly, He knew His people could only HAVE by receiving love from Him and giving it back in return. But how do you receive His love? By making the decision to fix your eyes first on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), and having the faith to see yourself as God sees you. Trust His Word about you: He calls you a child of God (John 1:12), a friend of Jesus (John 15:15), one who is chosen by Him (Ephesians 1:4), accepted by Him (Romans 15:7), one who has been set free in Christ (Galatians 5:1), justified and redeemed (Romans 3:24), redeemed and forgiven by the grace of Christ (Ephesians 1:7), and one who is no longer a slave to sin (Romans 6:6). You have been made complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). He chose to write you a Love Letter; choose to receive His love in it! Before you know it, the love that entered you will pour out of you abundantly in mind-boggling ways!

Remember, God didn’t choose to use perfect people; He chose the ones He knew loved and belonged to Him. Hosea loved God, but before he could love himself He, like you, had to learn how to love God. Only God knew to what extent he loved Him, but to choose Hosea to set this divine example of pure love meant he loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30) and understood how to love himself correctly and others passionately. For this reason, God called him to love a particularly adulterous wife as God loved her. The entire story of Hosea is a painful parallel to God’s compassionate love for His adulterous people. God said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord. So he married Gomer..." (Hosea, 1:2-3). After God speaks of Israel's punishment and restoration, He tells Hosea to take his wife again. "The Lord said to me, ‘Go show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’” (Hosea 3:1).

Though they turned their backs on Him, and committed despicable sin that was accredited to adultery, God still loved the Israelites passionately and eternally. And he called His servant to demonstrate that same love to a sinful, adulterous woman who didn’t understand God’s love for her. Because she didn’t receive God’s love or give it in return, she didn’t love herself enough to be set apart for Him or learn how to love others. God desires that His people imitate Him (Ephesians 5), and be sanctified for Him; He’s called us to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). And He has been faithful to equip His children with instructions on how to do this. By being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2) and remembering you have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) you can learn what it means to be His loving hands and feet on the earth. Your remaining ministry is reliant only upon the truth of love.

By being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer, you can love all God’s people (Romans 12:12). You must remember to bless those who persecute you, and not repay anyone evil for evil (Romans 12:14, 17). Your responsibility as a believer is to BE love as He is love, and to demonstrate His love by loving the unlovable like He did and still does. Sacrificing the flesh is a must. You must drown your personal opinions, presuppositions and judgments of others with the Word of God. It is certainly not possible to love completely as God loves simply because you are human and His love is too wide, long, high and deep for you to understand (Ephesians 3:18), but the charge still stands; like Hosea, you are called to live a life of love (Ephesians 5:2). That includes loving the unlovable and it starts with first loving God and loving yourself correctly. When you understand that, you will be empowered with the confidence and boldness that is required to love the unlovable.

So, fall in love all over again!