Last night the worries snakes crept back into my head. Things from the school spelling bee to test scores were on the verge of robbing me of a good 40. Since I am firmly convinced that worry is one of Satan's favorite weapons, I started to head down the rebuking Satan path. Then a thought occurred to me. When I combat the worries in that manner, the focus is:
A. on me ("I" rebuke, even if it is in name of the Lord)
B. on Satan.
I felt neither one of these were the best focus.
Instead I reverted to scripture. In this case I called the 23rd psalm to mind. In particular the first three verses. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." In particular I focused on "makes me lie in green pastures" and "refreshes my soul".
I think it is interesting that the writer of this Psalm chose the word "makes". I know with Roxie, our big ol' mixed-breed dog, there are times Kristi and I have to make her calm down if she gets too excited or when we are hiking and she starts to show signs if heat stress. I can allow worry to spiral out of control. At those times, I do need God to make me calm down.
A refreshed soul was a second need I placed before the Lord last night. Life can tire, frustrate, devitalize and sap a person. Jobs, finances, obligations, even church can drain a person to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. In 1929, Coca-Cola's slogan was "The Pause that Refreshes". (Interesting side note- It was in 1929 Coca-Coke was 100% cocaine free.) Perhaps a bottle of Coke can momentarily allay one's thirst, but nothing compares to the refreshed feeling a person gets after placing each and every burden at the feet of Jehovah-Jireh. THAT is the "Pause that Refreshes".
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