This blog page comes with warning. It may be disheveled, I have so much to say, and my thoughts are all over the place today so be patient. My prayer is that the words on these pages will impact at least one person who needs it.

Where to start…..the past couple of weeks have been challenging, eye opening and crazy. I am starting to realize that Satan does in fact try to attack us. He attacks when we are weak, but he also attacks when he notices us being effective for Jesus. I have been working on “me” for while now and through much prayer, thought and reflection I can see that Satan often tries to block true progress. It can come in the form of untrue thoughts that he places in your mind, such as you are not good enough, you have done something that is unforgivable, If people knew your thoughts they would all turn away from you, its all your fault, God can’t use you because you are just too broken, or it can come in the form of obstacles that he puts to block you from hearing the Christian message that you need that day. His attacks could even look like severe motion sickness on a bus trip.

For me that bus trip was to see David at Sight and Sound. In spite of the sickness that I experienced on bus the message of that play was exactly what I was needing to hear, and God knew it but so did Satan. To see in action the story of David and realize that while David was a true and amazing follower of Jesus he was drawn away from God and he fell and turned away. The pressures he was under caused him to look away from God. I had never really thought of it that way. Even King David was only able to take so much pressure. He felt terrible and repented, but he was sure that God would never be able to use him again. David also felt why would God want to use him now. The play did an amazing job of demonstrating how God used him in spite of his sin and imperfections. How God forgave him. How the savior we have in Jesus is willing to bridge the gap for us and when we turn back to him, he accepts us. God showed mercy and grace to David just like he does us when we turn back to him. Jesus is not in the business of waiting for us to goof up so he can turn his back on us. No person is perfect, we all sin and fall short of God’s glory and we do so every day, but he has made a way for us. I needed this message to help me get back on track in my heart. You see I often think that I am so broken God can’t use me and the message that plays in my head is more likely why would God even want to. I often question, that while I know the right words to say, and I know the things I should do, is my heart really in tune with my words? Am I really willing to trust God with my future, with my family, with my friends, with my next relationship, so that his perfect plan can play out in my life or am I still trying to control it and “fix it”? While his perfect plan does not mean our lives will be perfect it does mean that if we follow him, we will have the life he wants for each of us.

I started to ponder this as I was thinking about things today and realized God would be willing forgive us and still be willing to use us because he loves us. He loves us so much that he died upon the cross to prove that love, but also to take the wrath for the sins of the world. He provided the “WAY.” The way for us to move from the brokenness of this world to the way God wants our lives to be. Brokenness is something we are all experiencing in some way or another and right now it seems more than any other time I can remember. So many I care about are faced with intense struggles, whether that be depression, alcoholism, anxiety, self-doubt, financial struggles, broken relationships or just trying to deal with the news of the world we are all faced with. We are living in scary times and a time more than ever where people need the Savior. Those of us who have a relationship with God still face all of these things, but we have a place to turn. WE HAVE HOPE!! We have a reason to get up each day and keep moving forward. We are however under strong attack. I am convinced that Satan is trying as hard as he can to get God’s children to turn their backs on God. Even in subtle ways like filling us with self-doubt. It is great when he can convince an unsaved person to not look towards God, but how much better is it for him to convince one who claims to believe to turn away from God or doubt that God can really handle their needs? The bible teaches that God holds his children tight, and nothing can separate us but I believe the devil tries his best to fill us with doubt and shame. Because Satan knows the scriptures well, he knows he cannot snatch us from God’s hand but he can fill us with such self doubt that we are not being effective for Jesus.

Satan can also block us by making us think we can “fix situations or people.” He makes us feel incompetent when we can’t. You see the truth is we can’t fix things or people, but we can be an encouragement. We can pray remembering Jesus is the fixer. Jesus knows what people need, how they feel and encouraging each other to turn to God is the best advice a friend can give. I have often felt that praying isn’t enough, I need to always say the right thing or do something, and lately God has been impressing upon me just how arrogant that really is. If I am going to blog about the power of Jesus, his ability to forgive and pull people out of the darkest of places I need to live like I believe it. It is easy to say things but doing is much harder. Letting go and trusting God requires faith.

My goal for this week and my prayer for each of you is that we will be able to live out what we preach what we claim to believe. Be willing to trust God with all of our worries, our “what ifs,” our fears and our forgiveness. If we truly believe he forgives us, then we can allow him to fully use us. I pray that when Satan attacks your thoughts this week you will fill your mind with truth. The truth that there is a Savior who has filled the gap and made a WAY! I encourage each of you to invite someone to church for Easter, to go yourself if you haven’t been and really soak in this week what Easter really is. IT IS THE WAY provided for us to move out of brokenness.

God Bless each reader!! Thank you for reading. Please feel free to leave comments, or prayer requests in the comment section below or on my facebook page.