At the start of 2016 I set out to "wait upon the Lord".... to make it my goal and theme for this year to consciously choose to stop and remind my heart to wait upon the Lord, take courage, and let Him strengthen my heart. I knew that this would be difficult because my default mode seems to be worry, fear, and anxiety.
You see, I get distracted very easily.
And sometimes the problems and issues at hand in the moment seem to be much larger in proportion. What a flawed perspective!
So I knew it would take conscious effort and "bringing every thought captive" to consistently wait upon the Lord.
Little did I know just how difficult it would be.
A month and a half into 2016 and I found myself STRUGGLING to even desire God's Word or time with Him. My heart was inclined to every thing BUT Jesus. I knew at the core of my being (the new creation being that is) that I desired the Lord, but working that out and actually spending time with Him felt like the last thing I wanted to do...I was distracted and discouraged by my distraction. I would try to make myself read my Bible and pray, but quickly found myself thinking about other things and not even engaging with the Living Word...By the end of February I was so tired of trying and trying and could not figure out why I was struggling to even WANT to be with Jesus. Where is my love and passion for Him? Why am I so distracted by every other thing out there? I could feel the weight of not having spent time with Him in a while, and I felt extremely burdened and weighed down by all of life.
Then I was in Lifeway one day and decided to buy the Armor of God bible study by Priscilla Shirer. ( there ya go, Anna! step in the right direction!)
I started the Bible study, and found out that a dear friend of mine in Georgia was beginning the study with her small group of women at church. So that was awesome!
It didn't take long for me to realize where the distraction was coming from.
I had begun 2016 with a burning desire to wait upon the Lord. Satan did not like that. This Bible study on the armor of God is really opening my eyes to how deceptively and cunningly Satan works against us. In the study, Priscilla also teaches us how to fight in prayer against the enemy and recognize his attacks and lies.
I am not finished with the Bible study yet, but so far, I am LOVING it, and I'm no longer walking around distracted by every little thing. I am aware of the subtle ways that Satan tries to distract me and disengage me. And since I am aware of those moments, I am also empowered to immediately pray against those lies and distractions and choose to redirect my thoughts and my heart toward Christ and His truth.
I pray that you too will be aware of the enemy's desire and plan to distract, disengage and destroy you. Our enemy is real. And he works deceptively and cunningly. But God has given the exact weapons we need to fight him off, and more importantly, He has already won the victory for us! We need only to stand in His victory and the truth of God's Word!
I 100% recommend this Bible study. God has used it to give me eyes to see and ears to hear. He has made me aware of the enemy's strategies, and now that I am aware, I am not so susceptible to being played by him again and again.
I'm sure Satan is ticked about this, and he definitely throws his temper tantrums it seems because one thing after the other seems to pop up for me to worry and stress about and get distracted by, but instead I recognize that the temptation to worry and stress and fear is not from God. I choose to wait upon the Lord instead. He's got everything worked out. He's always provided for and protected me. He's never left me. He's always faithful. So I choose to wait. And I choose joy.
Be alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour.
But you and I belong to God. So we do not have to fall prey to his schemes and lies.
Take that Satan! (insert fist emoji here)
