Tortillas. It was the tortillas that nearly pushed me over. Tortillas and Satan.
I could hear the negative, hormonal self-talk mulling around in my mind throughout the day. Seriously, hormones are ridiculously real. At first the lies whispered, kinda polite-like. But by dinner time, the negativity bullied me around trying to get me to bow down to discouragement.
“Nothing you touch is excellent! Look at all the dust on your bookshelves and how much your kids bicker with each other. And why would you think you could teach them anything; you couldn’t even point out Missouri on a map. And you wrote a book about marriage? That’s a joke considering how you struggle to be an excellent wife.” You get the point.
My husband got home right when my emotions collided with the lies, which meant he got to hear me voice all my failures. Poor guy. He handled it slowly and beautifully. “But…Bryson is writing sentences now. And Ryan remembers his numbers,” he reminded. But the lies tried to defend themselves, “And I forgot to buy tortillas! And that’s a necessary part of tonight’s dinner!” He sweetly suggested we leave the steaming rice on the counter and go out to eat.
You’d think by now it wouldn’t, but it always amazes me. After inward lies hit the open air, my spirit lifts. Hearing them audibly, deflates their power over my heart and mind. And then voicing truths and turning my spirit to worship puts lies in their grave. Read that part again because that’s pretty much sums up this post.
Yes, there’s dust on my furniture and that toy car has been sitting in the corner of my kitchen for about 4 days now. Pick it up, already! And yes, my kids pester each other. And marriage can be emotionally complex. But those things are not my foundation for life and hope and peace and joy. My hope and peace arise from the truth of my God and my inheritance in Christ.
That’s not just pithy, feel-good thoughts for a blog post or a Twitter feed. Resting in the truths of our God and remembering our identity in Him can change our Friday.
Paul prays a prayer in the first chapter of Ephesians that pretty much sums up our place of victory. He writes, “(I pray) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.” (Ephesians 1:17-19)
Bottom line, we need God to open our eyes. Our hearts can deceive us with finite thinking. But in Christ, we have a hope that’s completely independent of life circumstance. From the mundane of everyday life to the completely tragic, the Truth remains. In Christ we already possess soul-riches. And His great power works towards us — the same power that raised Jesus out of that grave. We just need eyes to see.
When life and homes are messy, we need the eyes of our hearts enlightened. We need Him, by His grace, to give us fresh perspective. Eternal perspective. And that perspective change comes through confession followed by prayer and worship.
Because when I stop looking at the lack of tortillas or my poverty-stricken geography knowledge, and turn my heart’s eyes to God and the truths He speaks over me, my attitude changes. The dust may still lay on top of the bookshelf, but it doesn’t matter.
Worshipping our gracious God, asking for His vision and revelation, can change us from the inside out. Regardless. And for that, I’m so thankful. And my family joins in glorious unison, “Haaaaaa-llelujah!”
Fill me, Lord…
How does Paul’s prayer encourage you?
I’m linking up at the HelloMornings blog with other sweet sisters also going through the Glorious Grace study. Click here to read what others learned this week.
First of all, a husband who recommends going out to eat when dinner gets screwed up? That’s a gift from above, my friend.
Also, while I was reading your post I had a vision. Well, I’m going to call it a vision. I saw your sweet face speaking these truths at me during my early morning fogginess, and I decided I’d like a daily video of Ms. Williams preaching at me. I think that would help my day start off on just the right foot.
What? Too much to ask?
Oh, yes…and then there’s Paul. His prayer in Ephesians 1 reminds me that I need GOD to open my eyes, to grow in my knowledge of Him, to help me know and love him more.
And now I feel like a rambling, starving fool and I’m going to go eat lunch.
Amen.
Yes, our local Greek restaurant proved glorious. I was very thankful for his gracious suggestion. 🙂
And your vision makes me smile. You know…I do like to preach…I mean, speak. So you never know.
I thought of you this morning as I took 2 squirmy, full of energy boys to Costco with me and passed quickly by the limes! 🙂 Girl, aren’t we blessed to have the Word in us that stirs us up as it brings conviction to our hearts! And, how wonderful of God that he gave us husbands who are not perfect, but who can be used by Him to speak and act out grace in our lives! Thank you for sharing your heart, as always, so beautifully with us! Love to you, my sweet friend. Betsy
Miss you friend!!! Sending you my love and prayers.
Yes, yes, yes! Well said mama!
Amen! THANKS for your encouragement. I love: ‘And then voicing truths and turning my spirit to worship puts lies in their grave.’ SERIOUSLY need to remember that more often!
Paul’s prayer also encourages me to have a accurate view of God which leads me to worship! – which i blogged about and linked up also at hellomornings also :). I love how you made it so practical to turn from our circumstance and turn our “heart’s eyes to God and the truth he speaks over us”.