Posts Tagged discouragement
W.A.I.T.
Posted by aaron leighton in ATG Blog, Events on September 6th, 2011
Jesus had just finished “slipping away from the temple grounds,” making an interesting, evasive move as the Jews were gathering stones. One verse later in John 9:1, having just come from the temple arguing with the Jewish leaders, we find Jesus, with razor-sharp focus, right back at his mission. This is when he finds the man blind from birth. He spits in the dirt, putting the resulting “mud” on the man’s eyes and tells him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. When the man does as told, he is healed.
Allow me to back up in that story. I don’t know about you, but if I had just finished a massive argument with a bunch of hypocritical, religious tyrants ending with intent to kill me, the first thing on my mind would not be to strike up conversation with a total stranger about the healing power of God. Yet this is exactly
what Jesus did. He remained true to His mission, keeping perfect perspective, never missing an opportunity.
So why do we so easily get distracted and sidetracked, wandering away from the place we know God wants us? Asking myself this question, I realize I get wrapped up in everyday junk. Too often I find I’ve been simmering all day (or longer) in unprocessed irritation, unable to quickly put my finger on the source. Fact is I’ve let too much time pass without identifying and dealing with my anger. Often the result is taking my frustration out on someone that had nothing to do with it. I can tell you I’m guilty of coming home and snapping at my wife or being disengaged with my kids, when it was something from work—unidentified—I brought through the door to my home like a Trojan horse.
This got me thinking about what practical step I could take. Something simple. Maybe a checkpoint question I could ask myself to quickly identify issues and avoid sinking into yet another disconnected spell. So I came up with “WAIT” for “Why am I tense?” The idea is this: As soon as I am hit with something that is upsetting, take a brief moment, ask myself this question, and identify the source.
This year’s ATG theme is “Total Surrender,” and as I continue to give Christ full access to my heart, striving for 100% surrender, He is always faithful in uncovering new places for me to give to Him. This is just one area God’s working on in me—perhaps you are able to relate. I encourage you as you go about your day to keep vigilant to the ways the Enemy can distract you from your mission.
Nearly Taken out by Ants and a Baby Mouse
Posted by lance tullis in ATG Blog on June 7th, 2010
“The battle in your life is against your joy.” –John Eldredge, Walking with God.
What could go wrong? The weather was right. Everyone was in a good mood. It wasn’t going to be too expensive. Camping was on!!! Just me and the kids, having some memory making time. Well, the memories came, but whether or not they were good, I don’t know.
My daughter got sick. We arrived a little later than expected, and the weather turned incredibly hot. All manageable until the next morning. “Ants!!!” My daughter screamed. Black ants, thousands of them were crawling in our camper. These were big, black, man-eaters. They were on her pillow, on the ceiling, in the cupboards, I mean everywhere. All I could do was say to myself “Stay cool. This is a sabotage attempt. Don’t blow it over ants.” The kids scattered. No one wanted to be near the ants. The ants were everywhere in our campsite: the chairs, table, outside the camper, rocks, bbq, etc. I was about to pack up and go home, when a still small voice said, “Don’t let the enemy rob you of your joy that was meant for this weekend.”
I got my composure, walked down to the manager’s office and asked for a new campsite. She said no problem. I checked out the entire campground. It turned out that we were camping right in the middle of the biggest ant colony in all of California. It gets better, before I could move the camper, a baby mouse was squeaking on the ground under the back of the camper. (Baby mice come from nests).
This was a nice diversion for my middle daughter. She caught it, and put in a cup. At one point she tried to get some ground squirrels to adopt it. There’s more to the story, but I’ll share it later in another blog. (Again, baby mice come from nests).
I could have blown a fuse over the ants. It was definitely a trying moment, but I made a choice to know joy in the midst of a trial. I had prayed all weekend about knowing God’s true joy and to be the best father I could be that weekend. I think my patience dropped a couple of times, but the desire to know God’s joy moved me away from the usual grumpiness that a little hot weather, tired kids, and some dirt can bring on, not to mention the ants.
I read from Eldredge’s Walking with God about this very issue. Joy is the one thing that our enemy goes after, but it’s done in such a way that we stay distracted from what is really going on. He keeps us away from joy by our circumstances, addiction, shame, guilt, failure, and our own expectations. Joy is the one thing that will get us through the toughest of trials. Ask Jesus to help you know the fullness of his joy (John 16:24). Don’t let the enemy rob you of God’s blessing upon your life. Fight for your strength in being in joyous man. It will greatly benefit the world around you. And for the record, it’s a good idea to take ant spray when camping.
Making battle plans with you my brothers,
Lance Tullis