There will always be those people that want to ruin your day. They blindside you with a rude comment. They try to confuse you by contradicting themselves and then denying they ever had a change of mind. They lie to you, plot against you, are jealous of you, and are hateful. The world is full of these people! And there’s only one thing to do.
Smile.
Ohhh yes. Smile and shake it off.
They don’t deserve your power. They’re trying to crush you and rob you, but they aren’t able to for this simple reason:
If God is for you, who can be against you? Romans 8:31
So Smile.
Not in a conniving, evil way. But in a way that is based on a sigh of relief once you realize that Nothing formed against you shall stand. Isaiah 54:17
And ask God to help you forgive that person in your heart… truly forgive them. Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their wrongdoing, but it does release you from their grip on your consciousness and heart.
It’s 6:28 in the morning on Saturday and I’m already dressed (and mostly ready) for the day. I mean I’m still drinking my coffee but if I had to jump up and help somebody right now I wouldn’t be without pants or with a dirty mouth. Because I have gotten dressed and brushed my teeth this morning if y’knowmsayn. Oh dear, maybe it is too early for me to be writing my thoughts onto the interwebs 😛
My left knee has been in pain the last couple of days. Wednesday afternoon I had a sharp shooting pain pop up around 3pm. It didn’t go away all night, and I was icing it and heating it and elevating it in hopes that it would be gone Thursday morning. It was not. I went to work in the morning and limped around, trying not to put any pressure on the part of my foot that shot pain up into the knee. I also tried not to be discouraged. Neither worked very well, and three hours later I went home and proceeded to do a whole lot of nothing except RICE-ing (Rest, Ice, Compression, Evelation) and putting essential oils on my knee.
Thursday is my one day-ish off and I spent it taking care of myself. I’m just thankful I had that day to rest and I didn’t hurt my knee … Friday morning let’s say. So Friday morning I wake up and the pain has mostly subsided in the front area. Keyword “front”. All day yesterday the back of my knee hurt hahahah 🙁
I think my IT band was just suuuper tight from jumping into a new workout regiment too quickly and not properly stretching or icing afterwards. More essential oils ensued. A hot bath. Heated rice bags. I realized that ice felt really good on the sharp pain on the front of the knee, but the IT band really liked heat. Whatever works, aye??!
So I went to bed at 8:30pm last night. And didn’t wake up til 3:15am for the first time (OOoh Aaah!!). And not again til 5:40ish the second time. And boom, here we are, almost an hour later, and I’m ready to carpe this diem. Hehe
Such a great mug. It was a gift. 🙂
And yes, my knee is feeling much, much better today. PRAISE GOD! I know it feels better because I stopped and took care of it. I took taking care of it seriously so it didn’t get worse. My nightmare was being up on it too much and worsening it, thus dragging out the healing process.
Side note, I really like being up early. I miss this schedule. I used to go to bed pretty early (9:30ish) and get up at 6ish. Miss this. Miss these early mornings. Mmm. I will try to make this my life again. Just wait.
So back to being disciplined. When we have an injury, we have to be disciplined and do whatever it takes to get well again. The same can be applied to our spiritual life. I believe the human heart craves Jesus, and until we know Him as Lord as Savior, we’re going to try on a whole lot of other band-aids that never quite do the trick. For me, it was comfort eating and idolizing my own body and relationships with men. Never satisfying. Never fulfilling. I also tried drugs, exercising, vegetarianism, veganism, minimalism, environmentalism… lots of extremes.
Comes with my extreme personality I suppose. ALL OR NOTHING!!!!!
It’s a blessing and curse folks. But when I’m in, I’m all in. So I am beyond grateful for the Holy Trinity for saving my soul and giving me direction. Jesus is the only spiritual cure. The only way to heaven. The only lasting (and I mean eternal-kinda-lasting) remedy for an injured soul.
But loving Jesus requires discipline. It requires giving up other band-aids I’ve tried. It means trusting God’s ways and putting my faith in His Word. It means disagreeing with what some people very close to me agree with sometimes.
And it’s hard. It can feel like I have picked the wrong way sometimes because of how enticing the world is. But I do believe and have seen that the more I know of Jesus, the more I understand true beauty. The more time I spend with God, the more I see how I thought ugliness was beauty before. Now I see God as true good, and the flesh as ugly.
Dear reader, are you limping around? Have you tried heat when you should’ve tried ice? Have you tried essential oils and elevating and massaging. Have you taken anti-inflammatory medicine and gotten enough rest and you are still in pain? Still not whole? Run to Jesus. Ask Him to restore you. Ask Him to teach you how to be disciplined. It’s so you can get better. I know I have. I’m brand new because of Him. Now I have the power to understand and choose His ways rather than fall trap to my own.
Lord Jesus, thank you for healing my knee. Thank you for slowing me down these past couple of days so I had more time to read, write and be in your presence. Thank you that you are the ultimate healer and want your people to be well. Thank you for providing all that we need and for paying the price for us with your son’s blood. Thank you for pursuing us always, and never letting us go. I love you and need you and am so thankful for your Holy Spirit to guide me, comfort me and show me the way in which I should go. <3
Jefferson Bethke’s second book It’s Not What You Think has been on my wish list for months. I finally splurged and bought it for myself in the beginning of December, as an early Christmas present. I also bought my best friend, Alex, a copy (which she has yet to receive)– it’s comin’ girl!!
It was definitely worth waiting for. Jeff’s style is very simple. He’s on the money when he speaks and writes. To the point. And he’s totally himself. He’s true and authentic, doesn’t beat around the bush, and is very relatable; as a fellow 20something in this day in age.
He has a refreshing way of looking at traditional beliefs that make them interesting again. Chapter 5 is all about the Sabbath and how important it is to celebrate it. He also discusses what the Sabbath is actually intended for, and how the design of the week makes sense. Sabbath is for resting, but it’s also for playing, celebrating, worshipping, praising, being with family and friends and enjoying good food, drink and conversation.
Chapter 6 is about worship, and which god people are worshipping. Everyone has a god, whether it’s love, money, sex, exercise, science, power. Bethke makes you question who’s on the pedestal, and whether or not that god is fulfilling you or keeping your life empty and average.
In Chapter 8, he talks about scars, and how every scar tells a story of healing. How we must embrace our scars and be glad that they’re no longer open wounds. They’re healed, we learned something from them, and they make us who we are: a real human with a real history, who suffered real pain.
Are you someone who’s unsure which god you’re worshipping? Check dis out
Are you wondering why so many people believe in Jesus Christ or would want an identity in Him? Dis is for you
Are you unfulfilled and trying to find a satisfying lifestyle? Read it!
Check out Jeff’s first book:
and his 4-minute YouTube video that goes along with the book:
