If we are being honest? I've grown weary. The Paris massacre cut me to my core. All I could think about was those young people. Young adults my daughters age out on a Friday night. When the media started showing pictures of bodies I just tuned out. Found myself watching HGTV and paroozing Garden & Gun and Southern Living magazines for ideas for the upcoming Christmas season. It's as if my brain just shut down. Living in mindless decorating fantasy land soothing to my soul.
I didn't have to think. Except about what I lacked. What I needed to purchase. What I needed to accomplish to make my home Christmas worthy. That's when the light bulb clicked "Dang it, Satan, you are not welcome in my life. I do not need any more material things. I lack nothing. I am highly appreciative and thankful for all that the Lord has brought into my life! Flee, in the name of Jesus!"
Sound ridiculous? Maybe but he is that conniving. He is that masterful. 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light". The enemy wants us to believe the light of this world is worshipping him. He sucks us into believing that we need more and more.
One way the evil one does this is through chaos. We start to become numb to the hourly overwhelming news streaming into our news feeds, our televisions, and media. It's information overload. So we tune it out. And then,with tired brains, we soothe ourselves with internet shopping, graphic movies, explicit music, trash TV.
Slowly he moves in and we push God out. We don't mean to do it. It just happens. It happens when we take our eyes off of what is good, righteous, and true (Phillipians 4:8). It happens when we stop spending time in Gods word. It happens when we begin to worship things rather than worshipping Him.
The thing about chaos is that we loose our way. We get wrapped up in what we believe to be the immediate. The reality is that the only urgency in our lives should be spending time with our Maker. Time with Jesus puts a disorganized world in order. Time with Him lets us be still. It allows the Lord to speak to our hearts. He brings peace and order to our thoughts.
We had this discussion in bible study yesterday. "Back in the day" it seemed we had the leisure to be on the fence. To go to church, go to bible study. When those worship times were over we went back to carpool, ball games, paying bills and building a life. There seemed to be infinite time. I think that time is gone. My beautiful friend shared a quote from Johnny Cash that is priceless: "There is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell". Amen?
Don't let Satans light be what pierces your darkness. Let God's light shine through you. Be the beacon of hope to all you meet. Kick Satan to the curb and welcome Jesus into your life. He's the only thing left in this world that brings eternal peace to chaotic times.
"Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant"-Galatians 1:10
