Whispers In My Ear This Christmas Season

There are times in life when you just feel defeated. You try so hard and work so hard and with a phone call everything you thought to be true is tested and you wonder if you even had it together at all or if you were just fooling yourself. I don’t know if you can relate friends but it seems the more I live life radically for Christ the more Satan tries to test my resolve and place doubts in my mind about who I am and what my purpose is.

I recently went through a spiritual battle where I truly believe I was fighting the forces of evil and I was given a choice to show I trust or buy the lie the world was selling. I could justify buying the world’s lie and believing I deserve more than what God has to offer and I will be honest, friends I was tempted to.  I was tempted to go with my gut reaction of selfishness instead of listening to God’s voice and what He desires. I had a choice. Trust and love radically or behave the way the world says I should act.

Was I who He called me to be? Or was I just playing dress up like a small child. Did He see value in me? Or was I not good enough to be used for His glory. You see friends, Satan will whisper, “You aren’t enough and you never will be. Stop playing dress up and face reality.” This venom spewed in a time of worry and fear can cause your faith to teeter on the edge of a cliff.

As he whispered and enticed me with the world’s lies and offerings I started to feel my resolve wavering. In times of weakness when nothing seems to make sense, Satan will intensify his attacks. It is in times like this that we must call scripture to mind, hold unto the promises of God and embrace our frailty and worthlessness apart from Christ.

We must cry out, I’m not good enough and never will be BUT HE IS! I am not very valuable EXCEPT TO HIM! I don’t have much to offer BUT HE DOES! In times like this we must call on Him and His strength because He’s the source of strength and power and all things good anyways. The world believes what we do is based on us, but that is a LIE. What we DO, who we ARE, what we are WORTH is based solely on HIM!

When I called on Him, He came and He brought me strength and perspective. He gave me peace and assurance that He had this under control. As I was able to be compassionate, He became my comforter. When I chose to be joyous, He provided me with opportunities to smile and laugh. As I trusted in Him, He provided encouragement to me through others. As I praised Him through times when my life didn’t make sense, He showed me a simple but profound truth… He can handle it.

I don’t know what battle the enemy is waging against you this Christmas season. I don’t know what lie the world is trying to sell you or what doubt is being whispered in your ear but friends, DON’T BELIEVE IT. Our God came to earth as a baby in a manger to save us and redeem us from our worthlessness. He gave EVERYTHING to whisper in your ear, “You ARE valued. You ARE loved. You ARE beautiful. You ARE not alone and you ARE created for something special.”

This Christmas season lets stand together as children of God and say we will not buy the lies of this world but we will trust and believe in the simple truth that He can handle it. Let’s allow Him to give us the gift of provision as we trust in His goodness and rest in His love. Let’s allow the God of the universe to radically transform our lives, families, and communities when we stop buying the world’s lie that we are not useful, inadequate, and never good enough. Let’s stop fooling ourselves by thinking we deserve more than what God has to offer and joyfully embrace His redeeming grace and abounding love which is so much more than we deserve. 

Lord God we praise You. We praise You for your perfection and Your ability to make us perfect through Christ. We praise You for the gentle whisper of Your voice that speaks to us saying,“You ARE valued. You ARE loved. You ARE beautiful. You ARE not alone and you ARE created for something special." Keep whispering to us God, for we need to hear your voice...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

~ James 1: 4-7

Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up.

Expect God to get here soon.

 ~ Psalm 31: 24