Food for thought Friday: The snake in the ear

I mentioned perspective in the reflection yesterday and it has just circled around in my head since then. I believe that perspective is one of the biggest problems, it was for the Israelites and it is for us. The Israelites lost sight of the what was really going on. They forgot in an instant all that God had done for them and they were never watchful of their own hearts. We do the exact same thing every day. Every irritant is a huge inconvenience for our ultra important lives that we are living here on planet earth. Flat tire, the world is ending! A stain on my favorite shirt, why don't you just kill me, kids!? Someone didn't use their blinker, should you even be allowed to live??
Here's the perspective I want us to consider, we focus too much and too often on the "big-me" picture (of OUR stuff) that we neglect what is happening right now in front of us. Satan doesn't just work in the big tragedies and calamities, he pushes our buttons every day in any way he can to get us to "lose our religion", so to speak. Ever done it? Don't lie, I've seen y'alls Facebook rants. We pray against hurricanes and political persecution and plane crashes but we forget about the snake slithering around our ankles whispering the lies that lead us astray.

Picture this, you are that big warrior resting between battles. You have found a nice shade tree next to a clear babbling brook. The sun is low and there is a perfect breeze. You know that after a good nights sleep, you will be ready for battle in the morning. But there is this fly! It keeps buzzing around your face while you try to rest. It's in your ear then it's on your eye and then it even tries to go up your nose! You can't ignore it. You swat and swat at it. This goes on for a couple of hours. Now you're getting so mad because you are losing sleep that you need to fight the REAL battle tomorrow. You are seething with anger!

That is the perfect picture of how Satan gets to us. He is the fly pushing our buttons as we wait for the "real" battle to happen. (I'm pretty sure flys are evil anyway, after all, they were one of the plagues).  A person never crumbles in a day, it takes time and Satan is extremely patient. If you are not watching out for the small stuff, you won't make it through the big stuff.
If we are grumbling, we are crumbling. If we are saddled with a negative attitude we have to WAKE UP. Satan is binding our ankles while we go about our day, killing our life with God and we are letting him do it all because we aren't paying attention. He distracts us with all things American and we line up to buy right in. I have bought into the busy life and other things so many times I lost count. Then I would wake up and wonder why I felt like my life was just not my life anymore. It doesn't take much to cause our hearts to stray because they are fickle. Do you know how many times in the Psalms David talks to the Lord about guarding and directing his steps, his heart, his mind, his mouth, his life, his actions, etc? Pretty much the ENTIRE BOOK...and it's a really long book. He was a man after God's own heart so if he found it necessary to consistently ask God for these things, I think we should see the importance in doing so ourselves.
After I fostered the fist time, it did not end in cupcakes and roses. It was heartbreaking. I didn't understand it at all, I still don't. I was mad at God and He and I had a long talk about it :) What I got was one of those Job answers. I either trust Him to make decisions without my input or I don't trust Him at all. I'm here because I chose to go all in and trust without say so. It changed the way I pray as well. No matter what I want or what I think, my prayer consists of "Only You know best, so let YOUR will be done". And I will pray that many many times and let my heart completely settle on that decision so that Satan cannot sway me by my own desires. I know they are there. In fostering, it's hard to ignore what I want and what I think is best and what I think should happen and blah blah blah. But I can't do that to myself or the families or the children. I am not God (you're welcome world). Satan tries hard to pull me into a very self-centered world and the only way I can survive is to be the warrior who is not deterred by fly nor fire, Giant nor judge. My life isn't about me. That goes for every Christian. We do not walk our own path, we do not live for ourselves. Whether you foster or teach or preach or doctor, we serve a Holy God who expects us to be Holy too. You cannot do that with a snake in your ear. You cannot do that with complaints in your heart. You cannot do any of it if sin is ruling where God should be. We have to stop toying with the sin of complaining. We have to guard our hearts and mouths. If this is where you are at, please don't let it continue. You need a prayer warrior, you have questions? Talk to me.

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.But that is not how you learned about the Messiah,  assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on[the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.  Be angry and do not sin.Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the Devil an opportunity. The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption. All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.  And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.Ephesians 4:17-32 via Biblegateway.com