Chewed Up and Spit Out

This verse is no exaggeration as to what the devil does. He lies to you, get’s in your head, spins words around, entices you, makes things you know are wrong seem ok, and pushes you beyond your limitations more times than you can count. It’s awful how many of us fall victim to his deceit. But we do nonetheless. Recently, I fell victim to the enemies tricks and trades. I allowed my mind to get wrapped up into what he was feeding me and because of it almost risked some things closest to me that I love dearly. At the end of last week I was devoured.

At the beginning of this week however, I am regurgitated. Sounds disgusting right? If you think about it – you can be thankful for it. The Lord didn’t allow me to sit in the devil’s stomach – instead He made him spit me up and return me to HIM! Just like Jonah in the belly of the whale and after 3 days he is returned. The Lord loves me enough to fight for me – but I have to willing to put the initial strength up to start. I was so worked up over some things it was causing my blood pressure to rise, I was incredibly angry and full of rage. It takes a lot for me to get to this point. At my peak moment of disgust, the Lord whispered into my ear, “There is no situation too big for me”. That confirmed to me HE would take care of the problems. He also reminded me to “… never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ” (Romans 12:17-21). How comforting is that… God will take care of those principalities who come against His children (see Ephesians 6:12). Even when we mess up temporarily, He fights for us. I wanted so badly to address the subjects at hand myself and deal with it in my own flesh – but when the Lord speaks I have to listen. I have the best defense ever!

The hardest part is leaving it behind and constantly suppressing it. The enemy is constantly whispering in my ear things to get me stirred up. As people, we want so badly to see things dealt with in “our time” but that is not always God’s timing. Some of you have heard this story before but it’s worth sharing again (there are numerous versions of this story but you will get the point, lol):

There were two men (an assistant pastor and pastor) who were in church leadership together. They were the closest of friends until something happen. The pastor  had done something to the assistant pastor but the assistant pastor didn’t have proof to call him on the carpet. One day, the assistant pastor found proof and called a meeting with the pastor and council. Shortly before the meeting was to be held the Lord spoke to the assistant pastor and told him to throw away the paper and cancel the meeting. Obviously the assistant pastor was upset but listened to what the Lord had told him to do. Two days after the meeting was to take place, the pastor was sent to jail. His “little” skeleton of what he had done to the assistant pastor was just a drop in the bucket to what he went to jail for. Bigger and larger quantities of skeletons came out of the closet when the Lord dealt with the pastor in His own time.

The point? It’s not our responsibility to deal with the “problems” if the Lord says to leave them alone. What we see on a small-scale, the Lord sees on a large-scale. He sees absolutely everything – and when you don’t deal with your issues in the privacy of you and the Lord (especially when HE is trying to get your attention) HE will bring them out in the open. Maybe that will get your attention. I have been on this side this too. It’s a hard road to walk down, but it’s a necessary road to walk down if you want to continue on to what God has for you. You can’t screw up in the past or present and just “ignore” it and expect to walk further down the road to the blessings God has. You have to work through it – you have to face the fire (see TRIAL BY FIRE). (Again, been here too!) But when you deal with it, and make restitution to those you need to, then God pours out His blessings, forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, and every other aspect of His great things to come. Lord willing the other parties show forgiveness as God has shown us forgiveness. However, if they don’t, you have still done what you should and will have peace with yourself for doing so. When I worked through a trial God was pushing me to do so in – and I did it – it took some time for the other party to forgive me, but they did. And it was over! No one is perfect and everyone will make mistakes, we just have to be big enough to allow God to convict us, accept His “spanking” and move on. Joyce Meyer said on her radio program, “When you know who you are in Christ, you will not be condemned because you messed up. Instead, you accept the correction and thank Him for showing you your wrong and making it right.” How profound is that statement!

Don’t succumb to the devil’s lies. No matter which side of the lies you are on – those affected by them, or those acting them out.