Dreams vs Reality

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine from church and discussing how difficult life can be. Why does it have to be so hard? Seems so simple when you day dream. It’s all laid out in a nice neat order that has a flow to it. You know there will be disappointments and hurdles to climb, but you know you’ll get though it all. You have parents, siblings and friends to help you over the rough parts. You will find your soul mate and live happily ever after. 

In those dreams, we don’t feel the emotions of every day events that land squarely on our shoulders.

I’m not living in the home I dreamed of. There is no wraparound porch with wicker furniture and ceiling fans. No manicured yard with lots of flowers blooming year round. No white picket fence. I’m not sitting on that porch reading a book and sipping sweet tea with lemon.

I do have a nice comfortable home with a deck on the back of house that I can sit on and sip unsweetened tea. A few flowers are scattered around that need my attention. The deck needs to be cleaned from all the pollen. It’s hot and muggy out so a noisy fan rotates to move the humid air. There is laundry in the dryer that needs folding and my floors need to be mopped. What happened to that dream? 

Life happened. Neither of the pictures I painted above is right or wrong, they are just pictures in a moment of time, not a complete life. When life hits us with its everyday problems and responsibilities it gets hard. When life gets hard on a Christian, Satan comes at you like the roaring lion God warns us about. His claws are out, his teeth are bared and he is ready to leap on his prey and devour.

However, we have an opportunity to ward off Satan. God has prepared a way for us to get free, His word. 

We were discussing how if we stay in His word and bury ourselves there Satan wouldn’t have as many opportunities to lunge at us. He is there and waiting for when we are weak, he always will be. The more I study, pray and lean on God daily, the less opportunity he will have to attack me. It was true; I wasn’t as deep as I should be in His word. I had slacked off and that was all Satan needed. He saw an opening and took it. He lunged and I wasn’t prepared. I was almost devoured before I realized it was Satan that was next to me. 

This week will be different. I’m in His word.

How about you?

May God Bless

The Roaring Lion

James 1:12-15

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

I feel like I am constantly being tempted. When that happens I ask God “why are you doing this to me”, or “why are you letting this happen to me”? I suspect this is pretty normal for most of us, but when I am tempted, it feels like I am alone in this world. I know I’m not, but it sure feels that way.

These verses above, James 1:12-15 confirm that God is not responsible for my temptations. I am solely responsible. As always, the choice is ours to make. It is my sinful desires that tempt me and take me away from God.

Why am I tempted? Where do these desires come from? My understanding is they come from Satan. Satan is real and he knows my weaknesses. When I am weak mentally or physically, Satan is aware . . . then pounces.

The Bible says the devil goes about the earth like a roaring lion, 1 Peter 5:8. Like a lion in the wild, he roams, constantly moving and looking for weak pry. I am pry to Satan because I am a Christian. Satan isn’t interested in those that do not worship God; he already has them in his clutches.

It helps me to stop and think when I am being tempted. Consider the fact that something is off inside of me, just out of sorts. When I realize that and transfer that information to Satan stalking me, I know it is God that is missing. Not that my faith or beliefs have changed, I’m just weak at the moment. Maybe I hadn’t prayed yet that day, or maybe I am overwhelmed with something in life or just feeling blue.

Counting my blessings is a good place for me to start proactively fighting the temptation that I’m facing. Acknowledging that my God is bigger than any problem I have has a profound effect on me. It lifts my mood and gives me strength.

Share with me some of the ways you fight Satan off when temptation faces you.