In Other Words for June 22

It's been a few weeks since I've done one of these, but I'm back! Good early morning everyone!


 
“One of Eve’s biggest mistakes was she stopped and started to think about what Satan was saying and it made sense to her. Not everything God tells us makes sense but that’s where faith comes in. We need to learn to be lead by our hearts and not our heads.”
by Joyce Meyers
How many times have you felt God's leading to do something and you hesitate because it just doesn't make sense and you can't understand for the life of you why God would tell you to do that? How many times have you listened to the "other" voice in your head whispering with craft and cunning something that sounds sooooo right, even though it seems a little off? I for sure have. And I'll tell you that story as it is part of my testimony.

Back when I was in my mid-20's I was, let's face it, a party girl. I had accepted Christ at an early age and was very strong in my faith, but once I hit public school in 10th grade, I started drifting away. Seeking the approval of my peers rather than walking the path that God had set before me. I enjoyed the attention, enjoyed the acceptance, reveled in the popularity. Oh, I still had a fairly naïve and innocent, unaffected personality, but I craved the approval of others.

Once I hit my mid-20's I was in a relationship with the guy who would become my first husband and my daughter's father. It was not the most stable relationship but it was one that I was determined to have. Did you notice that? "That I was determined to have" . . . not the relationship that God had in mind for me. We had moved in together and as things started to go sour, my life also started to sour and I just couldn't find the meaning in my life I was SURE I was supposed to have.

Slowly, subtly the voice in my mind started whispering that surely there was something "more" out there. Surely there was something I could find that would fill the emptiness I had inside. The more I listened to that "other" voice, the further away from God I found myself, until it was almost like I was running full steam in reverse. I still loved God, but I was disillusioned and felt lonely and like I had no control over my life.

I started searching for things that would make me feel fulfilled as my relationship started deteriorating to the point where we were pretty much broken up but still sharing a bed. My search started leading me to "women's empowerment" and how I was a "goddess", etc. and so forth and so on until I finally landed on the spot in the feminism game called Wicca. For those of you who may not be aware of the term, it is a whitewashed word for witchcraft.

Do you know how much of a struggle it is to have two parts of yourself that are completely at odds fighting for dominance over your mind and body? Notice I didn't say soul because I knew that Jesus had my soul and had for years, but I felt that certainly there must be some sort of way for both parts to co-exist. Of course, there wasn't.

As I got further into the occult I realized that I was progressing at a speed that was vastly different (greatly increased) than other people I knew who were into the same stuff until it scared me so much that I could do these things with ease after just a few weeks or even days of practice that I stopped cold turkey. I threw away the "book of shadows" that I had created for myself and I met with my pastor and divulged to him what I had been involved in. Thankfully, he is a true man of God and faithful to His leadings. After a lengthy discussion and prayer session I came out of there with a different outlook on life and started my own fledgling journey back to the path that God had for me.

Of course, as is usual, that "other" voice crept in again, one more time in a different manner – I guess it had decided that since I could no longer be drawn by witchcraft again that it would try partying once more. After all, that's how it got me back in high school and my mid-20's, and, for a while I followed it again, ignoring the faint voice in the back of my mind that said this is wrong.

Thank God that His love is stronger than any glamour of the devil! When God decides He wants someone He will not give up until He has them. I am stronger in my faith today than I have ever been – with the exception of the absolute faith that I had as a child, and what I would give to have that depth of faith again!

If I had only listened to my heart from the start instead of my head. I've learned that God will always speak through the heart, and only sometimes in our minds. And the voice in our minds is a quiet, still, soft, gentle voice, full of love and perfect peace. Have you heard it?

The wily one, the enemy, the trickster, the devil, Satan will always speak through your head and your negative emotions, because if your heart and soul belong to God, there's no way that Satan can actually touch them. That "other" voice is vastly different. It beguiles, it seduces, it lures and carries with it a sense of "because I owe it to myself". Have you heard that voice?

I've, hopefully, learned the distinction between the two now, believe me, I've had enough practice, and I certainly know which one to listen to. So even when God doesn't seem to make sense in what He is telling us, that doesn't matter because we can and will never go wrong by obeying Him. We may not see now the understanding behind the reason why God wants us to do something, and maybe we will never understand this side of heaven, but rest assured it is all for the glory of God and when God is in our corner and on our side and we are obedient to Him, there is no greater feeling than to know that we are doing what is right and that we are pleasing God.

The One who created us.

The One who watches over us and holds us in His hand.

The One who has prepared a place for us with Him for all eternity.

The One who gives us perfect peace and rest when we abide in Him.

I'd rather have that any day than the faux "feel good" feelings that listening to the "other" voice and doing the wrong thing can produce in the moment but leave behind a lifetime of regret and sorrow once that moment is gone.

For more perspectives on this In Other Words quote, please visit our wonderful hostess this week, Karen @ In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus.