While
the rest of the country endures snow and the deep-freeze, Southern
California’s having unseasonably warm weather and UN-fortunately, not
a raincloud’s in sight. And with all this sun and warm weather the weeds along
with overgrown flora and fauna have tried to take over and claim flower-bed VICTORY and I had HAD enough! It was time!
TIME for some serious hand to hand combat!
After
a hardy breakfast I put on my “camo” yard gear, Mickey Mouse baseball cap and strapped
on a Beth Moore ”So Long Insecurity”
CD for added inspiration, reinforcement and support. I loaded my weapons of
mass-weed-destruction into my red-radio-flyer wagon and made sure I armed
myself with my machete and other assault weapons. Well ok... I guess you can’t
technically call my bright orange ratchet clippers a machete, but the weeds and
overgrown bushes don’t know the difference... and machete sounds so... so
menacing.
Quickly,
and with great focus and determination I got to work. Progress of the attack was
soon evident as the green barrel was beginning to fill with one severed weed
and clipped branch at a time. And it felt good!
I
moved around the perimeter. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. I deftly continued...
and then paused... *Sniff*... *sniff*... What’s that? Soon, a foul order began to permeate the area.
Hummm, this unexpected development called for my extension device (also known
as a rake). I cautiously took a step back and parted the thick underbrush. There
it was. Hidden. Curled up under a layer of dried leaves. The object of
“foulness!” In the background of my mind
I could hear James Cagney saying... “YOU
DIRTY RAT!” Yes... (another) rat!! But not just ANY RAT, mind you... but a big, fat, DEAD one! Ah yes, just the way I like them. DEAD! Without
a moment of hesitation I catapulted this rodent to his final resting place and quickly closed the lid on the green trash can... and on the day.
A
successful day on the battlefield was over. As I put away my “weapons” I thought about how fast things had gotten out of control. I wondered WHEN and HOW did this happen? Quickly I realized ... Busyness happened.
Holidays happened. LIFE happened. THAT’S HOW! One thing led to another until weeks, perhaps
MONTH’S had passed since I’ve pulled a few weeds along with a few back muscles while
working in the yard.
I
also realized that just like overgrown weeds and rotting rodents, sin can quietly come creeping into
life as well and try to claim
victory. Sometimes it doesn’t take much. Life does get busy. The to-do list never seems
to end. It’s easy to get overwhelmed... discouraged and weary. And before you know it ... days, weeks or
possibly months have slipped by since we’ve had that special time with Jesus.
Perhaps it’s cutting short devotional time or speed-reading the Bible without
thinking, remembering or applying what we’ve just read. Maybe it’s saying an abbreviated prayer or two
... when we remember, that is. Honestly, it doesn’t take much for that dirty,
good-for-nothin’ rat, to come sneakin’ into different areas of our life
basically unnoticed.
This morning I read...
"Remember,
satan fights dirty. He jumps on anything that could keep you from
centering your thoughts on Christ." -Beth Moore, Breaking Free
My
prayer is to keep my focus on Jesus. NO MATTER WHAT! I want to spend focused time with Him. I need His help to recognize when
life gets crazy, out of control, overwhelming and exhausting ... OR ... awareness of my need of Him
when things are moving along swimmingly... either extreme and all points
in-between, I always, always, ALWAYS need time focused on and with Jesus. After all, He's the only One who knows what’s ahead in
my day, my week, my month. He knows whats hiding in the corners of my world... And He WILL ALWAYS give me everything that I need.
And what
I need... is HIM.
“[Debbie] You will not have to fight this battle.
Take
up your positions; stand firm
and
see the deliverance the LORD will give you, ...
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Go
out to face them tomorrow,
and the LORD will be with you.'"
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