Replacing His with theirs

We all know that words hurt. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is high up on the list of untrue statements. Honestly, I think I would prefer a broken bone over a broken heart or spirit any day. The Bible talks many times about the power of words and just how they affect our lives both in the positive and in the negative. It’s one thing for words to hurt, and most times they will – but it’s another story when words begin to shape.

What do I mean by this? Well, people are always going to say things about us that either we don’t agree with or that are just ridiculously untrue. Those words once spoken (most times not even directly) are sent soaring towards us. Imagine an arrow that is shot out and is heading directly for you. It hits and it hurts. The pain of the stab most times will bring tears along with a throb of the wound.

But now we sit at a cross roads. Do we make up our minds to get the arrow removed and the wound healed? Or do we think, “No, I kind of like the look this sharp object gives protruding out of my body. I’ll just keep it situated.”

Sounds ridiculous right? Yes, but this is what we do with words that are sent our way. Once they’ve done some damage, instead of removing them (getting into the Word of God and seeing what He says about us) and getting the wound treated (praying, forgiving, seeking counsel from our pastor/leader) we allow the nastiness of the words to begin to shape our very being – who we are and what we believe about ourselves. This ultimately then begins to shape our world and our purpose.

When I look at it this way, it seems so silly! I want to be healed and whole – not scarred and broken. 

This only comes by the Word of God. When we replace what He says by what they say – we will never be confident, secure and steadfast. Just recently some statements were made about me that were completely untrue yet instead of running to God and diving into His book of Truth that spells out exactly who I am – I allowed these words to define me, they became who I felt I was when I first opened my eyes in the morning, how I approached life and how I viewed everything.

I used to envy my husband. People could say the most vile, atrocious things to him and he would not even bat an eyelid. He takes gossip and slander like water off a ducks back. HOW? What is his secret? I want to be like that (oh how I desire to be unaffected by the negative words of others!) Well, his secret is not really a secret: my husband knows exactly who His God is and what His Word says about everything. Therefore, when someone says something horrible about him, he takes it to the Word, measures it against it and walks away knowing that all that matters is what God says about him. After all, God knows the bigger picture, He knows His plan and purpose. People often speak from a mere circumstantial and often ignorant view.

Man! Why is this so easy to say but so difficult to walk out? Today is a great day to determine in our hearts that a change has to occur! My prayer for you and I today is that we would not replace His Words with their words, but that we would allow His Words to completely overshadow theirs. That His words of life, love and wholeness would shape our lives. After all,

“It is in Him [and in Him alone] that we live, move and have our being” – Acts 17:28 [Paraphrased]

To Choose Joy

Ever heard of a “winter season” in life? Think about winter in nature: it is the coldest season where animals hibernate, trees die and colors fade. In our personal lives,  we can explain it as a time and a season when things feel dark, lonely and sometimes even desolate. But the great thing about winter is that in just a little bit (regardless of how it feels), spring IS coming. We can lift our heads knowing that the flowers will bloom again and the sun will once again become warm.

Why blog about winter? Well, honestly lately the winter inside of me has felt just as real as the chilly winter outside of my door. Maybe you have gone through a winter season recently too? Maybe yours had to do with a relationship or finances or maybe even a family scenario. But for me, it all started a couple of weeks ago when I allowed other individuals to steal something so precious and important to me: my joy.

“This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me. This joy that I have – the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away” 

Ha, an oldie but a goodie! But what Biblical truth this song declares. According to the Word of God, JOY is a fruit that we possess due to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is a FRUIT that shows on the outside of our life – He who dwells on the INSIDE of our heart (Galatians 5:22-23). There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a temporal emotion that is based on circumstances and situations, whereas joy is found in the presence of God and is not based on what is going on around us. It is a supernatural fruit that enables us to overcome whatever we may face here on earth. Honestly, joy is kind of crazy: we feel it even though everything else around us says that we should not. (Feel free to let out an “Amen” right about now – God is SO GOOD!)

So, if joy is so special and God gave it to me so vitally, how then am I so easily robbed of it when I allow others to intervene? Well – just that! See, nobody can steal my joy without my permission. Seriously, that is like leaving a million dollars on the front  porch of my  house and wondering why it was gone when I got back. I practically handed it to the thief by not protecting it. Someone has only stolen our joy because we have allowed them to. They had no right yet we handed it over with ease. Well, at least I did anyway.

Here’s the problem with that: it never just ends there. Joy is the ability to overcome earthly situations and circumstances. So when we allow someone to steal our joy, that then carries over to allowing them to steal our gifts and talents. With no joy, we feel defeated and lost. When we live in this type of mentality – we then will not operate in our gifting because we feel insecure, hurt and offended.

Think of the example of gossip:

We are moving along in life, doing great things for God – loving others, working hard and serving wherever we can. Then someone says something about us that is not true. That thing goes from one person to another (gossip is like a wrecking ball and tears apart the closest of friends – Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 26:20) and eventually comes back to our ears. As women created with more emotion than men, this hurts us and we find ourselves at a cross roads. The choice is up to us as to how we are going to deal with it yet SO MANY of us fall prey to the harmful (and most times untrue) words. We then begin to allow them to shape our very lives right in front of our face. This hurt begins to slowly and then more forcefully tug at our joy. Once we let our joy go, the next in line are our gifts and talents. We loose the voice that God has given us to speak to our generation because we choose to value the words of  human beings as more important than the words of God. And just like that, we find ourselves in a winter where the mornings seem dark, the days seem long and the atmospheres of our lives feel freezing. Gossip is just one small example of the large list of things that we can give permission to, to steal out joy. As I said before, maybe for you its a relationship, finances or even family politics.

If you are reading this sweet woman and it resonates in your heart, my prayer for you is that you would hold on to your joy. Joy is our ability to overcome everything and anything that we face here on earth in these tumultuous times. We cannot trade it for anything. It is our strength and our endurance! It is the very presence of God inside of us and we are more than conquerors because of it (Nehemiah 8:10).

Looking inward, what have you allowed to steal your voice? Why are you not doing the things God has called you to do? Is it because of this very thing? If so – today can be a new day for you. God can turn around in an instant what man has taken weeks to destroy. Get outside and start planting some seeds – spring is coming and in no time, the beautiful flowers of your life will be blooming again 🙂