Drag your Angel

I have missed blogging, but I had to retreat to my Bible this week to intentionally force myself into lengthy quiet times. The words I longed for could only come from reading my favorite book. You have heard me say that God is a God of do-overs but I want to get it right. I want my actions, words, and thoughts to be a giant THANK YOU to my God that has extended me far more do-overs than I deserve. Pray for God to give you eyes to see things the way He does, but be ready. The things you start to see will challenge you, stretch you, and delight your heart to a point that you almost can't stand it. The things that used to never bother me have become heavy on my heart now. Awareness can change you!

I feel the world trying to stretch me in so many directions that go against the things I am seeing and taking to heart. I feel like that old Stretch Armstrong or Stretch Monster that my brother and I used to play with. Some days I feel like I walk with a limp where a leg has been pulled, or an arm hangs lower from the burdens I try to carry or better yet when I am pulled in all directions at the same time, my head feels like it is going to pop off. Therefore, I wanted to be shaped and molded by the One who made me to begin with. That can only happen when I retreat to the one place of truth and love.

As the week has gone on, I have been overwhelmed and encouraged at the same time by the number of women who are struggling with emotions, hormones, stress, fear, and events that are trying to suck the joy out of them. God's Word says to count it all joy (James 1:2) but as these ladies and I have discussed, we then feel bad that we feel bad. So the process begins. Our focus turns inward, we examine and dissect the problem. Our main goal becomes finding the root of the problem and by the time we have tackled all of that, everything is magnified, including our problems. It is like a bad scene in "Honey I Shrunk The Kids". For me, I then begin to question my spiritual maturity. "Well if I really loved Jesus, I would be skipping along and not allowing anything to get me distracted or down." I believe this is how the enemy tempts us to become ineffective.

So, after reading and praying I decided to give myself a swift kick in the butt (in Jesus' name). I will still battle with emotions, hormones, stress and even fear. That makes me need Jesus even more. However, this week I realized those are the very times that if we turn to Him (even when we don't feel like it), He will strengthen us, remind us of how much He loves us, and refresh us when we realize we aren't crazy. The more I have talked to other women, the more I am encouraged that we are all in the same boat and I am not an isolated, insane woman. Most of those conversations have ended in laughter.

Here's a great way to look at it. Psalm 34:7 tells us the Angel of the Lord encamps around His people. Now, without getting too technical, this does not mean there is only one angel that encamps around everybody at the same time, but many believe this is
either one of many angels or the Lord himself. It can get really deep studying scriptures like this, but I like to keep it a little more simple. I mean, it is all good. If it is the Angel of the Lord, it has to be good. Therefore, I like to exercise my "child like faith" and result to pictures. The image I get is this angel encamping around me like the verse promises. Mine is one busy angel. I got to thinking about all the things I drag my angel through. Although I doubt angels complain, I bet I push mine to the edge sometimes. When I think about being pulled in so many directions, I think about my angel having to increase it's encamping area. Isn't it cool that no matter where we go or how much we go through, our angel goes with us? When you kick the devil in the teeth (with your half painted toenails), your angel is probably hanging onto your ankle and strengthening your efforts. I love that!!!!

Bottom line - God loves you and finds you worthy enough to have your own Angel of the Lord. You are never alone, but when you are feeling alone and a little crazy, I suggest you rally with your BFF's and compare angel stories. Then when you are done laughing so hard, you can drag your angel to buy some adult diapers. Ahhhhhh! There's the joy!