Burned

-
The other day I was reminded of an experience I had at the beach a couple of years ago.

You see, the beach is not my favorite. I prefer the mountains, but I was asked to be a chaperone for the teens of my church, so I agreed to go. I approached the trip as I do many things in life that I don’t enjoy, but still have to do.

I endured.

I sat in the middle of that beach, in one spot for around 4 hours. I did not move. I just sat there, enduring this place I was in, hoping the time would pass quickly. I did not protect myself in any kind of way from the elements. Since I have brown skin, the sun has never really been an issue for me. Though I should have, I never used sunscreen when spending time outside. Brown-skinned people tend to be a bit more protected than those who are fair-skinned.

But we are not totally immune to damage.

I did my time, then headed back to the car. Once in the cool, air-conditioned car, I felt some discomfort around my chest and shoulders. I also felt a little bit nauseous. I looked in the mirror and noticed my skin did not look to be its usual golden brown. It was red and splotchy. It hurt to touch. I couldn’t believe it.

I was sunburned.

Today, as I think about it, I realize there are many circumstances I have found myself in, that are undesirable. Instead of dealing with them head-on, I get into endurance mode and sit in it, which for me usually means mental paralysis. I don’t address it, I don’t try to make it better, I just sit and endure, hoping it passes quickly.

As Christ-followers we are not called to simply endure. We are called to stay alert and stand up against the enemy. When we sit paralyzed, it’s prime time for the enemy to come and do damage in our lives. When we don’t act, we give him free rein over our lives and may find ourselves burned. Remember, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. We can’t afford to sit paralyzed.

“ Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.” Eph. 6:10-11

Trust that God will give you the strength to face all that is put in front of you. He will never leave you.

You can do this.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Someone Call an Exorcist?

-
Image
Last Friday I went bowling with some of my family. I am aware of my low skill level, so I remained humble throughout the first game, and surprisingly finished in 1st place!  The second game began and I just knew I would dominate even more. I may not have been quite as humble. I was last on the list to go. I stood up and approached my ball with confidence. I picked it up, set my eye on the center arrow painted on the lane, then took a few quick steps forward just as I had before.  As I took my last step, I swung my arm backward, then forward, and fell flat on my face. Actually, flat is not entirely accurate. I’m pretty sure every one of my limbs flew in a different direction, and the position of my head may have had folks wondering if they should call an exorcist. I also seemed to be temporarily blinded from the fall but could hear my ball bouncing its way down the lane. Let’s pause for a moment of prayer. The problem was that I had stepped over the foul line into the lane— 1. Not reali
Read more

The Complexity of Prayer

-
Image
Have you ever considered the complexity of prayer? Have you ever had something you needed to pray about, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to talk to God about whatever the issue was? I have experienced that many times. I will call it “Prayer paralysis.” Prayer paralysis happens when you are afraid of any answer God might give you. If He says no, then you might feel bad, or sad, or even angry. If He says yes, then your fear factor increases because you just don’t think you can handle what a “Yes” entails (which essentially means that you don’t trust Him). So instead of revealing your lack of trust (Like seriously, you don’t think He knows? ), you just don’t pray. It’s kind of like when you were a little kid, and you would sit still and close your eyes, thinking that it would make you invisible. God already knows our fears of failure, self-pride, and even our trust issues, so we might as well just go ahead and lay it all at His feet. There’s another kind of prayer paralysis that I ha
Read more

Go Deeper

-
Image
  Anyone struggling with anxiety? I have struggled with it quite a bit. Then, I realize that forgetting to bring all of my anxiety-inducing problems to God, is a big part of the problem. Yesterday I talked about living in endurance mode. Part of that is taking all of the difficult things, and trying to wait them out.  If I really think about it, I may have subconsciously believed that struggling is just part of the journey and that I need to suck it up, because Jesus went through way more than I ever will.    But, “ Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)  He never intended for us to hold onto them. Sometimes we don’t bother saying anything to God because, well, He knows what’s happening. He can change it if He wants to. So we sit paralyzed—enduring! Is that familiar to anyone? Though He could whisk our struggles away at any time, part of the journey, part of our relationship with the Creator is rooted in commu
Read more