Nearly six weeks ago now, our family moved from a
little town in New Mexico to Fort Worth, TX.
My husband made this decision, and after much prayer and discussion, we
decided that this was the direction God was taking our family.
Overall, I love our new city! There is so much more for us to be able to go
and do as a family. There has also been
so much that God has opened up for our family, that it’s unbelievable! As with any time you’re heading out the
direction that God is leading you, the devil will try to make things more
difficult and derail you. We’ve had
several mishaps, from our new electric company accidently charging us twice our
deposit amount and having to refund it to some hurtful comments from some close
to us.
I’ve been having an extremely difficult time dealing
with some of this. I have felt very
hurt, and personally attacked, by a lot of what has been said. And I have been dealing with it in all the
wrong ways. At first, I was taking it to
God and discussing things with my husband, and I felt better. But as it has continued, I’ve felt like my
feelings don’t really matter. I’ve felt
like I’m dealing with this alone.
Add to that, the kids normal but aggravatingly crazy
behavior at times, the stress of having sick kids for a couple of weeks, the
laundry piling up, all that needs to be done around the house, and wanting to
explore our new city, and I feel like I’m running on empty. This stress is carrying over to my attitude. I have been snippy with my kids, frustrated
with my husband, and on the verge of tears a lot of the time any more.
This isn’t me.
Sure, I can get this way from time to time, as we all slip up. But this overwhelming sense that I don’t have
anything in life together isn’t normal. Yesterday morning, I was frustrated
with my husband before he went to work, and I almost didn’t give him a real
goodbye because I was so upset. I had to
run outside as he was about to pull out of the driveway to apologize and tell
him how much I love him.
I think the devil deserves a roundhouse kick right
to the throat.
I’ve been getting hurt, upset, frustrated, and mad
at the wrong people. Yes, I may be
justified in some of my feelings, and certainly others need to evaluate their
own actions, but that isn’t something that I can control. This is Satan’s goal. He sees the blessing, and he is bent on
destruction.
All too often, we are quick to get defensive when
others wrong and offend us. Instead,
maybe this is God’s way of putting us through his refining fire. Although it may not change the fact that we
find things hurtful, we do not have to face these things alone.
My goal now is to deal with these in an appropriate
way. Instead of getting hurt and closing
myself off, I want to take it as an opportunity to show God’s love and display
his grace. Instead of getting frustrated
that no one seems to appreciate the home cooked meal or the fact that their
laundry is done, I need to do it unto
the Lord.
“Work willingly at
whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for
people.” Colossians 3:23
In heading Christ’s call to follow him, we are able
to break through even the most difficult circumstances. We can also separate people’s actions from
them, knowing that sometimes they are unknowingly aiding the enemy’s
purposes. Instead of getting mad at the
person, we should deal with the source:
Satan.
“For though we live in the world, we don’t wage war
as the world does. The weapons we fight
with aren’t the weapons of the world. On
the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take Every Thought and
make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-6.
