August 18, 2019
Hear my cry, O God, from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalm 61:1-3
It seems to me no matter how much and how often you decide that you are going to “have a mind stayed on Jesus” as the old folks will say, there will be something or someone that will try to rock your boat. I seriously wonder if we are in the end days because folks are crazy y’all.
I still work outside the home full time so most of my experiences are in the workplace. But there are interactions with other groups outside of work as well. And all of these environments are breeding grounds for crazy, I have come to find! We recently had an outside celebratory event for the staff. We were having a great time. There was good music, good food, good drinks, and good fellowship. We were enjoying spending time with colleagues we hadn’t seen in weeks. Life was good. Then the yellow jackets showed up.
You couldn’t have a conversation without swatting and shooing them out of the way. It was the punch. The punch was full of delicious fruit like pineapples and cherries. It was light, sweet, and refreshing. It was attractive to yellow jackets. The yellow jackets were just doing what yellow jackets are supposed to do when they are around sweet stuff which is to pester until they get what they want and consume it.
I began to think about the fruit of the spirit. These are all the characteristics that we try to live out each day as Christians. We get up each morning and we are thankful for the new mercies. In fact, I’m in my normal spot this morning…on the porch at 6 a.m. meditating and writing so that I can watch the sun break the dark of night. We start the day full of hope for what will be. Then the yellow jackets come. Here’s an example…I was working in my office last week and having a really great day. It was a rare no meeting day and I was getting stuff done! Then a former employee showed up unannounced. Thinking this was a “hey how you doing” kind of drop-in, I agreed to give her a few minutes. Ten minutes into the visit, I could tell this is a yellow jacket and I need to adjust how I’m viewing this situation because this person has come to suck the goodness out of me and I’m not going out that way today.
And what do we do when there is a yellow jacket, we start to swat at it. After a few back and forth statements with her, something in my spirit said: “look beyond”. I realized quickly that this yellow jacket visitor was a different kind of spirit and one that needed to go. But it requires a supernatural power to deal with that kind of evil spirit. I prayed Lord, lead me to the rock because I feel myself swatting out of control here and I’m going to be overcome if You don’t come to get me. And He did. I gingerly walked to the door, opened it and shooed that yellow jacket right on out of my space and back to wherever those types of evil spirits go.
I have no clue what your yellow jackets might be. Or how long you’ve been swatting at them. But here is what I do know. You don’t have to. God knew that situations would come to overwhelm you, frustrate you, and give you angst. But He also gave us an out. He will take us to a higher place above it all if we ask and follow his lead.
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