Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Soul Bullies...take a hike!

        "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (Rom.8:6)
         A while back, I wrote this verse on a bright orange index card and just found it tucked in my overflowing calendar book (yes, yes, old-timey, non-technology me still uses a big old paper calendar).  And it's a mighty good word from God's supernaturally good Word...because it's a reminder that your mind set is key.
         It's so easy to default to a negative, destructive mind set.  I mean, the world provides plenty of ammunition, doesn't it?  Public discourse at an all time low.  Terror abroad and at home.  Completely dysfunctional politics. Division and rancor abound.  Poverty, homelessness, drug epidemics and on and on. 
         Yet we live in a fallen world, and in reality, while our particular problems may wear slightly different clothing, the problems, the sin, the fallenness, the sorrow, and the challenges have always been there.  At least since Adam and Eve ate of the apple. 
         But here's the thing: it's not just the world around us--it's what is within us. 
        Oh my stars, I can fall into a pit of discouragement so quickly when I start fixating on all the ways I'm failing.  All the ways I'm missing the mark.  Writer Leeana Tankersley described it so powerfully in her book, Begin Again.  She recounts a story of accidentally running over some canned and jarred goods she'd planned to donate to her children's school food drive.  She'd created an enormous mess and began internally berating herself.  "There I am, standing in my driveway, getting sucker-punched by Soul Bullies who are giving me more and more ammunition to use against myself, all the while I'm ankle deep in chunky beet juice.  Man, life is no joke." 
        "Soul bullies."  Haven't we all been there?  We go from being so busy that we forget a child's doctor's appointment...to complaining about our chronic over-commitment...to beating ourselves up for our total lack of organization skills...to wondering why on earth God entrusted us with children since we're so incompetent...and on and on it goes.  Twisting and turning down that dark, ugly trail of shame and guilt and defeat. 
       But you know what?  That's just plain wrong... in fact, worse than wrong--that's just flat out lies from the enemy.  Because after all, the enemy "comes only to steal and kill and destroy"--and he uses lies, distortions, division, deceit, and those ugly little soul bullies!  But Jesus "came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)  Jesus came to give us life--real, abundant, eternal Life. 
       Yes, God loved you so much that He sent His only beloved Son to die for you, for me. (John 3:16)  He doesn't look at you and me and sigh with distress and despair.  No, He chuckles with love and understanding.  You can almost hear Him say, "That's my girl!  That's my boy!  Aren't they something?" 
        Don't take my word for it...take His.  "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (I John 4:10)  Or "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love." (John 15:9)  Now that's some serious love: as the perfect, eternal, holy Father has loved the beautiful, powerful, glorious Son, in the very same way Jesus loves us!  Jesus loves us like the Father loves Him.  That's crazy!  That's unimaginable!  But that's our Heavenly Father and our wonderful Redeemer.  We can't even begin to grasp that kind of love, but our job is simply to "abide" in that love.  To rest in it.  To enjoy it.  To savor it.  To share it.  To live in it day in and day out. 
        And in case you're wondering if your latest terrible, very bad, awful mess-up might've finally been the last straw, God immediately sets you straight through the apostle Paul in Romans 8:35-39.  Paraphrase?  Nothing, nothing, nothing...no how..no way...not ever...NOTHING can ever separate us from God's love.  If  you are His, YOU ARE HIS.  Forever.  I think that calls for a Hallelujah! 
        So instead of looking around and finding excuses for anger and fear or looking within and repeating ad nauseum all the reasons for discouragement and despair, how about looking to the Lord and His Word where you'll discover endless ammunition for peace, love, joy, and hope.  Tell those "soul bullies" to take a hike.  Go to God's Word and rehearse His promises.  Remember His past provision.  Repeat His Truth rather than rehash the enemy's same old lies. 
       Corrie ten Boom once put it this way: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed.  If you look within, you'll be depressed.  If you look at God, you'll be at rest."
        Soul bullies don't stand a chance against the Savior and His supernatural Word. 
        To God be the glory. 
         

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