Hard Won

Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance, nor wafted on the breath of summer dream; but grasped in the great struggle of our soul, hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream. Author unknown

I awoke early this morning and headed down to our family room to spend some quiet time with God. I put on some beautiful music, turned on a lamp which warmed the room with it's amber glow and curled up with my coffee and daily devotional. My expectations were high of having a cozy, quiet and serene time on my couch all by myself. I had created the perfect atmosphere worthy of an Oscar for Set Design! Within moments my dogs were rustling and my little Chihuahua started crawling all over me acting strange. Then as she looked up at me with her sweet face, she threw up all over me and the couch! Within a few minutes my husband came out of the bedroom to start his day and all I could think was, "Seriously!" All I wanted was some serene time in a picture perfect setting and BAM, life was rolling!

I could feel a spirit of anger and frustration come over me as I scrubbed the couch and myself. My quiet morning now had the sound of  dishes being washed and the smell of cleaning products! I wanted to scream, "Can't I even have two minutes to myself!" but instead chose to go sit outside for a few minutes and pray. "Lord", I said, "I am so tired and stressed and all I wanted was some peace! Can't I have a little normal!" As soon as I murmured those words I heard the sweet voice of the Holy Spirit in my heart whisper, "This is normal."

I have lived my life with the notion that "normal" was something that was realistic and attainable. The events that happened this morning were actually a blessing to my soul. God gave me a lesson and I realized that this lesson will carry me when I otherwise would choose to fall. Normal is all the clammer and happenings that go on in a day. Abnormal is when they aren't happening as part of our life! The gifts that God gives us are not uninterrupted moments but moments that we allow Him to interrupt! Our greatest blessings are found in Him through the interruptions of life.

How many times in our life can we look back on and say, "I wish I did that different." How many times have we let the distractions, mishaps and interruptions of life cause us to take our frustrations out on our loved ones, friends, co-workers or even strangers? I have a quote over my desk that reads, "Know the difference between a disaster and an inconvenience!" Friends, let's learn to take a deep breath when life goes awry. Let us learn from the Master, Jesus, who longs to teach us how to take life in stride and keep our peace of soul composed when life becomes bumpy. Pull away from the circumstance and draw near to the Prince of Peace. Women who have children tugging at you, secure the kids and then take even a couple minutes to put some Christian music on in the house. Go and hide in the bathroom for a few moments and keep a daily devotional in there or a bible or journal. Men, go out to the garage or take a short walk before your fuse hits the powder. Anything is better than hurting ourselves or someone else with words of anger. Breath and pray.

Ephesians 6:12 states, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This paragraph goes on to describe to believers how to put on the armor of God. I suggest reading it for it is our only hope in a world of constant attacks. Another thing that I learned this morning is to laugh more. Life and all its troubles and frustrations can weight us down to a point where we become cave dwellers. Laughter lifts us up to the sky where there is fresh air and views of hope! Learning to laugh and smile helps us to not take ourselves or inconveniences so seriously. Pride and entitlement can be an awful trigger to anger and selfish behavior!

Lately, I have been making a conscious choice to ask God for His peace when I "feel" anxiety rushing in. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit the other day that the reason I did not have some of God's goodness was because I wasn't asking for it! He says to ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7), and I started doing that and he has been faithful as he has promised to replace my anxiety with his peace (1Peter 5:7) that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). We need to let our prayers trump our feelings. The sooner we come to grips with the fact that we have a CHOICE in every circumstance of how we are going to process and deal with it, the sooner we stop being victims of our emotions!

These battles are not easy, they are hard won. But, with a commitment to choose God in the ludicrous events of life we can find wisdom rather than foolishness, peace as opposed to frustration and joy instead of anger. Beloved, in every trial and situation there is a sweet lesson from God that can take our character from one of poor stature to one of integrity. We are always just ONE PRAYER AWAY from a complete shift of perspective! Choose this day who you will serve, the god of this earth who brings frustration, anger, malice, pride, regret, sorrow, shame....OR the God of love, who desires to transform you into a person gifted with wisdom, adorned with honor, instilled with peace and overflowing with joy.

Knock each small frustration down with a humble shout of praise before they build up and make you act unbecomingly.

1 John 3:1, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"