Let us Choose to Conquer the Day
I saw a wide, wild river with white rapids that splashed over rocks and expanded as far as I could see. Then a black cloud shaped like a giant chisel came through to divide and separate the river.
When the river became separated, it was diverted off into the field. Creating a small swampish area, the stagnant water quickly clouded and darkened. Fish and other wildlife could not survive. And soon, if left alone, the swamp would dry up and be no more.
This was not what the Lord wanted. For our lives to be separated and for the power to be cut off.
I thought about how easily that could happen when something comes in to separate us.
When I asked what the dark cloud meant, He responded it was a wrong interpretation of current circumstances. The belief that when things weren’t going smoothly in one area of my life, then it needed to affect the rest of our lives and keep us isolated from the power of the Holy Spirit.
When in fact circumstances aren’t adding up to a tranquil life, that is when it’s the most important time to stay in the flow and not allow yourself to be sucked into the vortex of looking at the negative instead of rejoicing in the good.
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To be cut off is a dangerous place to be. We can easily get stuck in the negative and forget what it was like to flow in the Lord’s peace and provision. I don’t know why it’s so easy for us to get stuck looking at the negative instead of the positive.
How do we let things separate us?
In His word, it says that we can’t be separated from Him. So how does it happen? The answer is our will moves from being within His will and instead wanders off on a field trip where the enemy wants us to be.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39, ESV)
How do we go from conquering to just trying to keep our heads above water? I don’t know.
But I know we need to give ourselves grace and maybe our conquering doesn’t look the same from day to day.
Maybe just standing up and not taking a single breath for granted is conquering.
On other days, we get all our to-do lists done and start on tomorrow’s work. Either way, when we are continuing in His will, it’s a win.
When we refuse to listen to the deafening shouts or the subtle whispers of the enemy, it’s a win.
We chose to conquer for that day.
Prayer for you and me: Lord Jesus, I’m sick of heading off in my own direction. I desire to be tied to You and unable to veer off. Teach me to conquer anything that the world throws at me, including my poor coping mechanisms that pull me into the abyss of self-reliance instead of the perfect will of God. Forgive me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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