Stop, look, listen

The easiest way for the enemy
to get you to believe the lies
he whispers from the darkness
is to get you alone and isolated.

I love being around people
and yet I would still begin
isolating myself from others
when life got overwhelming.

When you think you are sitting alone
with only the thoughts in your head
the lies sound like your own voice
and you believe them,
not realizing their origin.

You begin to believe a lot of bad things
and you can usually find "facts"
to back the beliefs up.
You don't want it to be true
but you can't see how it isn't.
You want someone to believe in you
but you can't let yourself hope anyone will.


I've been in that place where
I desperately wanted someone
to believe I was worth fighting for
even though I didn't believe it for myself.
That's when I started asking God
to show me that He was fighting for me.

How many times,
in the middle of my own pain
did I tell God that I needed
to see Him fight for me?
How many times
did He fight for me
in a way I didn't expect,
leaving me struggling against Him,
until I finally realized
He was just answering my own prayer?

I'm not in that place today
although I can't say with certainty
that I never will be again.
So there is a chance
I am writing this
for my future self.

I can say with certainty
that I know other people are in that place
and if you are one of those people
then you need to know
God is fighting for YOU.

He is listening to your cries
He is showing you grace time and again
He is letting "luck" take the credit
He is putting people in your path
He is sharing messages of hope
He is shouting more loudly than all the whispers you hear from the darkness...

All you have to do is stop, look, and listen.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you 

against your enemies to give you victory.
Deuteronomy 20:4
 
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3