STOP and Do A 180!

As I lie in bed with my mind working too fast for me to sleep, I am reminded of Pastor Barry's Ash Wednesday sermon. Referring to Acts 3: 19, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord...", he said, "repent and stop". Do a 180 degree turn! When someone wrongs me, I can fall victim and justify my feelings, after all, it is not right. I do not think I am alone in this.

For a couple of years I have been praying for the truth to come to light and thanking God for fighting my battles. You know the saying, be careful what you pray for! God convicted me that when I play these hurtful times, over and over, I am making Satan happy. I am giving the problem more time than the Problem Solver and nothing good comes from this. That is not letting God fight our battles! When we trust God to fight our battles, we do not experience what often accompanies the conflict such as panic, fear and hopelessness. Exodus 14: 14, "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

After being convicted I asked God's forgiveness for my negative thoughts. After a few minutes, here they came again and I asked God to forgive me, again! It hit me....Repent and STOP! I was repenting but not stopping the negative action. I was highlighting what the enemy was doing instead of praising God for what He was and will do! I asked God to forgive me for that and when those thoughts began I immediately repented and told God, "I am doing a 180 and focusing on praise and not the problem." As soon as the praise begins I am at peace. You know, evil does not want to preside where praise is!

Another hard time I have to thank God for because He has surely taught me so much from this experience. Romans 8: 28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Thanks be to God!