Call to Arms

It's the what if's and the if only's that break us down.

Did you know that anything that you put on your skin gets absorbed into the blood stream? Gross right? I think about this all the time at work. We have this sanitizer solution that we have to dip our hands into to dig out a cloth and then proceed to disinfect counters and other surfaces with it. What is that stuff? What is that doing to my body?

When I was first married I worked this landscaping job, I'd spend hours on my own, weeding and mowing and spraying (awful chemicals, yuck!) anyway, I'd get so wrapped up in my thoughts that by the time I got home I was a wreck. And each day it felt like it got worse, if it was raining and my rain gear sucked I'd dwell on that, if it was hot and I felt sick to my stomach I'd dwell on that. Not to mention life issues, relationships, future, finances... It all beat down on me like a heavy hand choking me out.

One Day I decided I would conscientiously fight back these thoughts by being actively thankful for things. I began the day on my ride-on mower thanking the Lord for new socks. Yep that's where I started, then I kept adding to the list: baked bread, hot showers, dinner with good friends... Whatever I could possibly think of. This would work for a time, but eventually the steam would run out and I'd be back to the same old heaviness. Until I could fight these thoughts with scripture, till I matured in my faith it was so hard to dig myself out of it.

The battle to "be transformed by the renewing of my mind" is still one I fight till this day. Without scripture it is unattainable. The truth is, the more I'm starved for His word, the weaker I become. A big part of this picture is what goes on my skin and into my bloodstream. It's the world telling me my deepest fears of "what ifs" and "if only's". Slowly seeping in day in and day out. If more of that crap goes in than the hope of Christ revealed in scripture and the washing of the holy spirit by prayer, than I will surely lose this battle.

From my experience, it can not be done alone. I need support from Christian brothers and sisters who know me and know that I am in this fight. Which in turn means others are in this fight too, so I need to make an effort to help and encourage the ones around me too.

And what's at stake? Not our salvation, which is kept hidden in Christ, but our hope in Christ, the peace of Christ that can rule our hearts, the race that is waiting to be run and the sweetness of freedom in Him. Who knows what else is at stake? All things are possible through Him, so what is in the plan as I begin to shake these countless thoughts from my mind?

It's a call to arms...
To fight the good fight...
To be a slave to Christ, not to my dead-end daydreams.

No more what ifs and if only's
Because... As the King has valiantly proclaimed "it is finished!"