(This is from a while ago...)Thank goodness winter is here. This morning I woke up and found a cheesey lookin shirt to wear, and then threw this nice sweater, which I wore the night before, right on top of it. I felt like one of those russian eggs that are really just plain old eggs on the inside.. but on the outside they're fancy enough to be given kind notice.
Haven't posted in a while because I've been rather occupied with other things. I took a final on Saturday, which I was a bit anxious to get done with. Finishing that class has loosened up my evenings and given me, on the whole, a lot less stress about how this semester will turn out. Usually it's all or nothing for me; and that I finished the class and got a B gives me some hope that the rest of the semester will follow suit.
However, since my last post I've been struggling with my daily focus and walk with Jesus. I had one night where I couldn't get to sleep, and my thoughts were running rivers of concern about all the different things I had going on. That was one of the few nights when I have prayed for a rescue escape from the temptations that were bouncing in my mind. Have any of you seen Braveheart? The part where the bride of Mel Gibson is caught, and is tied up to a stake for execution? The passion in that scene is what came to my mind that night. She never begged to the enemy. The enemy never thought much of her, and didn't really care about her. But why then was the enemy focused on her? She belonged to somebody who cared so much about her that he would risk his life. Jesus risked His life, shared His life, and shed His life, for the sake of any us. Temptations are present for everybody here on earth, but God provided us with a reason to not give into them. Now, at a certain point in the scene, the semblance of the woman at the stake does not work with what I went through that night. I knew that God protected me, and that even if I died that I would be with Him. At the stake, that woman's throat was slit, and the entire movie is put into a motion of revenge afterwards. But God already commited His Son to death, which gave the ultimate hope for all Christians: that it is literally impossible for the enemy to kill us (giving our soul to God keeps it out of reach of the Devil).
So the motion is already in us, and it is in us so that we might not stop when we are tempted. Consistency is a very hard thing if you're oil and water; and it's hard because it's not meant to be that way! Following that night, I have been guilty of slacking off, and forgetting what God did for me that night. Now that I'm back on the path, I'm reminded that "the longest way around is the shortest way home." The only things that keep me on the path are God's love, and the knowledge of His promises. This is such a rambling post, I need to sinch it off. And go grab some dinner. In conclusion, God is, among other things, the Protector of our thoughts and feelings. Our part in it is to keep our thoughts and actions into the motion that His Son started for us.
I hope you're all doing well!
