February 28, 2022
Do you know what this means? It’s the end of February! Today is the last day. I am shooketh. I don’t even know why. But time truly seems to be moving quickly and then it’s just over four weeks to my birthday! It’s funny, the last couple years I felt no excitement for my birthday and was like why bother? Last year I did attempt something, but the police came and said we’re not supposed to be on the beach so the one thing I was going to do (kayaking at night to see bioluminescence) got kabosched. I attempted to get a massage. Spas were shut down the day before. So yeah. Lol. Funny though that this year I am super excited with limited funds. Not even sure what I would end up doing, but I’m excited.
Thank you for today and for waking me up in my right mind. You know this is something that is so easy to take for granted: a right mind. So many in the world are filled with anxiety, depression and have mental disorders. The battle for our minds are going forward full scale and so often we don’t recognise that it’s a battle. We think that anxiety is normal (I did anyhow). We know that depression isn’t, but it’s too often treated like something to be afraid of and so people are afraid to say anything. Sometimes we can be dismissive of what others are going through: “That’s small thing.” Or “But I would never let that bother me.” But the truth is, no matter how insignificant we may want to think something is to us: once a person perceives it as trauma, it has an effect and pretending it didn’t happen makes it worse. But the recognition that the devil is after all minds allows us to fight the way we should. It gives us the insight that it is not our battle to fight and we can go ahead by will power for a while, but eventually that will fail.
Yahweh asks for us to do something so deceptively simple but it’s actually difficult to do.
1 Peter 5:7 – Turn all your anxiety over to God because he cares for you. Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour.Â
He is roaring. Making noise. Providing distractions. Ask yourself what is going around you that is making noise without purpose? Chances are that is what the devil is using to try and devour you. Watching the news all the time? Devouring you. Your friends always calling when you’re about to study? Hours spent on social media with no discernable outcome? There are so many levels the devil is fighting and that we can’t even begin to see them. But this is why Yahweh says to turn our anxieties over to him. It’s not just the things that worry us we ought to turn over: it’s everything. We can’t open the devil without the master: the one who sees and understands everything. It’s not that he won’t ask us to do something, because he will. We have to make that choice to turn to him. To give him everything.
Colossians 3: 2, 3 – Keep your mind on things above, not on earthly things. You have died and your life is hidden in Christ.
What are you focused on? That is what will prosper in your life. Choosing to do things and to think about God things, not earth things helps to clear your mind. The funny thing is, by not focusing on the things here on earth, we are better able to navigate because now the spirit is leading and he knows all things. But the problem is discovering your method of fixing your focus on God. It’s easy to get discouraged when we say I’m going to read the Bible for an hour and then you realise you remember nothing. But maybe you are only supposed to read two verses because that’s what your mind can comprehend at the time. So finding your strategy is a process but that process starts with prayer.
Help
Yep. It seems simple and it is. But until we can admit that we need help it would be the hardest thing to do. We need help. So I have a suggestion: start by admitting that. Three words, ” I need help,” or if that is still too hard, one word would do, “Help,”
Psalm 54: 4 – God is my helper. The Lord is the provider for my life.
Hebrews 13: 6 – So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can mortals do to me?”
Isaiah 41: 10 – Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand. Â
Over and over Yahweh says it. He will help us. To have the right mind. To fight for us. But we need to accept the help. I needed to admit that I needed help. Until that moment I was drowning, I had no hope. No sense for my future or present. I needed to pray the simplest prayer there is, “Help.” It changed me. Not overnight, but minute by minute. And he helped me, he showed me what to do. He told me where to turn and he held my hand. He pulled me out of a very dark place and I am thankful for that. Thank you Yahweh for what you’ve done for me. Thank you for loving me so much that you helped me and set me right. Thank you for showing me what I ought to do.
My strategy is multileveled (and I did not develop it myself nor in one day) and I am thankful for your leading. Words fail me sometimes. I actually look forward to each day and that’s a good thing.
SIDEBAR: Sometimes I remember snippets of a scripture in a moment that is totally applicable.
Nehemiah 8:10 – Then he told them, “Go eat rich foods, drink sweet drinks and send portions to those who cannot provide for themselves. Today is a holy day for the lord. Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.”
The part I remembered: the joy of the Lord is my strength. Finding joy in Yahweh. His joy in me, gives me strength. For today. It reminds me that he delights in me and that he wants what is best for me. By choosing to focus on him, to accept his health, it is the most powerful (yet smallest) step we can take. And with each step he helps us. Each step he shows me where to go.
Yahweh, I can’t thank you enough for helping me. Thank you for being you in my mind, for fixing my focus on you. Hmmmm. Maybe that’s why the days are moving so fast. My time is not relevant(?) but your timing is. Thank you for your consistency in my life and I pray for your continued help to be consistent with you. Thank you for loving me. I love you.
