Gosh these past several months have been a whirlwind and life has just been CRAZY. With John working full time and finishing up his MBA things have been, well lets say adventurous. That being said, God is moving and doing some truly amazing things and I have to say I am feeling GREAT.. Praising HIM BIG for that.
Since our time as a family has been limited, John decided to take off from work today and we took the kids to the zoo. We so needed a family fun day and we had a blast. While we were at the zoo, I just felt as though the enemy was trying to get at me in any which way he could. I found myself walking with my shoulders scrunched over and my head down beginning to have a pity party for myself, you know because that is what I needed to do today on our family fun day. LOL As I was beginning to wallow in all these negative thoughts, I lifted my head up and right in front of me was a lady passing by with a shirt saying, NOT TODAY SATAN.. Point taken, thank you LORD for that reminder.
I was amazed that while I should have been choosing joy today, I allowed the enemy to enter into my thought process and quickly take me down, trying to detour me from the blessings of today and rob me of being present, joyful and in tune with my most precious gifts, my family.
As we journeyed through the day I walked with my eyes wide open, with the amor of God fully fastened and secured in place and I was in continuous prayer rebuking the enemy from trying to re-enter my thought process. That right there is no joke a full time job. To know that we are in a constant battle, in spiritual warfare, knowing that the enemy is stalking us, sizing us up, waiting for the most opportune time, the time we are most delicate, most vulnerable, at our weakest to attack and take us down, knowing we ALWAYS need to be on our guard, suited up with the shield of faith and sword of the spirit ready to fight a battle at ANY given point..
Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us just that.. “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
As we walked throughout the zoo, I couldn’t help but stand in awe of His goodness and faithfulness as we were truly blessed by seeing so many of Gods exquisite creations. If you stop and look, being still enough to breath in all that is around you and inhale the simplicity of whom He is and All that He has created, you would truly be in a purifying bliss of truly how amazing HE is.
As I was taking all of Him in, I still had three littles that were whining and eager to see more. They soaked in all that they saw but Jace was very persistent on going into the reptile exhibit. When we entered we walked around for a little and then made our way over to some snakes and then stopped because there was this one snake in particular that caught my attention. Maybe it was because Jace kept saying mom look its moving or maybe it was because God had another plan, Whichever it was, my eyes became FIXED on this reptile. As we were looking at it through the window, he noticed us and began to move toward us or should I say slither towards us. He moved right alongside the base of the window and the Lord quickly spoke to me and reminded me of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the sneaky tactics the serpent used to turn Adam and Eve’s attention off God and how this “deceitful” creature was a key role in changing the course of not only Adam and Eve’s lives, but for all of those to follow. You see this snake saw us and began to move. It was on a mission. It was slithering down the entire course of his exhibit and every once in a while it would lift it’s head up, look at its surrounding and then go back down to the ground, slithering further and further along. Gosh God spoke to me soo profoundly in this moment and all I could do is say thank you and praise Him for His continuous reminders in that He is always with us.
You see this snake, the enemy, when he sees us he begins to move. He begins to slither alongside of us and carefully sizes us up. He is on constant watch to what is going on in our lives, noticing where we are weak, vulnerable, weary and every once in a while he stirs the pot. He lifts his head up off the ground and causes chaos, fear, anxiety, depression and once he has you in a state of panic, in a state of trying to sneak in to kill, steal and destroy, he quickly drops his head back down to the ground so we cannot notice him. He continues to slither along and quietly waits for the next opportune time to lift his head back up, causing more anxiety, more damage and more fear. He knows where to attack and he does it so quickly and precisely, taking us down before we have a moment to think. He is continuously staying low and he is continually waiting to attack.
The enemy is on a mission to cause strife, chaos, commotion and damage in our lives. To bring us to a dark, destructive place where we are constantly having pity parties for ourselves and he is on a mission to kill, steal and destroy any love, joy, peace, and strength we have. He wants to change our our course, our view and relationship with God and His mission is to bring us to a place of hopelessness and despair, questioning God and His love for us. He wants our eyes off HIM and turned towards his sinful ways.
Watching this snake today is exactly what I needed to witness. I needed this visual to see just how attentively, precisely and accurately this snake scopes out his prey. I needed to see that even when I wasn’t looking he was still watching. I needed to see that although my eyes were fixed on Jesus, he was slithering right alongside of me at my feet, sizing me up waiting for the right time to lift it head to cause me to jump back with hesitation and fear. Even though there was a glass window in between us (God), he still was not letting me out of his sight. I needed to see just how long he would travel to get my attention and I needed to see that although he had his eye on me, that my eyes we re fixed on Jesus and the voice and presence of God triumphed over his (the enemies) tactics and kept me focused and on track.
God knew exactly what I needed today. He knew I needed this beautiful day wth my family but He also knew I needed this simple reminder. A reminder that we are in battle, not between flesh and blood but against rulers and principalities of a dark world. We are not fighting on the battlefields but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realm, in the Courts of Heaven, where the accuser, Satan, is trying every and any tactic to drag us and take us down. God knew the day I was having and He blessed me with simple reminders that He has me, He has my life and He is journeying right alongside of me while I run my race to the destiny He has called forth in my life.
I do not know what is going on in your life but I will tell you this. Although the enemy is on watch, on guard and tracking your every move, no matter how hard he tries to take you down, you need to hold onto and remember that YOUR God already won the victory. He already died on the cross for YOU and no matter how dim the light may be shinning in your soul, your life and your circumstances, you need to remember that God is in the business of bringing light to darkness, hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak and power to the weary, He performs miracles on a daily basis and let me tell you that when you can fully understand and grasp that you are not alone, That God loves you so deeply and profoundly and although the enemy is alive and real and he is on a mission to attack, steal, kill and destroy, seeking out those that are sold out for Christ, you will undoubtably be able to rest in His shalom peace knowing that no mater what you face, no matter how hard you think you are going to fall, that you will never be crushed because you will fall into the palm of His hands and He will carry you through EVERYTHING and ANYTHING.
God is good all the TIME.. Blessings my beloved dear friends. Oh how I LOVE YOU