There is a dark thing that hides at the fringes of my faith. I can feel it there. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting.
Waiting for the day that the diaper genie bag rips stinky wide open when I try to remove it last thing at night.
Waiting for the unkind word from someone I work with, church with, or raise children with.
Waiting for a 90 degree commute stuck in bumper-to-bumper gridlock in the car with no air conditioning.
Waiting for the blog that is prettier, bigger, or more beloved than mine to catch my attention.
Waiting for the mom that is more organized, more disciplined, more engaged than I am.
And in that moment I feel it slink out of the shadows and onto my shoulder. Gently it strokes my hair, caresses my neck, and begins to whisper in my ear.
It whispers, “Unfair. Poor you. You deserve more.”
It understands me. It pets me. It tells me, “You should be angry. It’s your right to feel frustrated. They don’t know how hard you have it.”
It offers me the opportunity to rant and sulk and feel justified in doing so. More often than I care to admit, I allow the dark thing to cover my mouth with a hard, hot hand and speak petty words on my mute behalf. It is never pretty.
But sometimes, sometimes I remember what a lie sounds like.
I recognize it by how it always puts me at the center of an equation and everyone else in the red. How it leaves out important elements and twists others to suit its own ends.
And on those occasions, I crane my neck around to address the creature squatting on my neck. It does not like that.
“Liar,” I say. “Cheat!”
“You are trying to sneaky sneaky snatch my peace, my contentment, and my patience away from me. But you cannot tug-of-war me away from my faith. And you do not speak for me.”
With each word I gain courage and volume. And with each word the thing deflates before my eyes until I can reach up with one hand and pull it off me.
Free.
And I do what we do with any parasite found at the end of a long day spent out in the sun – I crush it, burn it, flush it. And apply the appropriate ointment:
1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43: 1-7.
The best way to identify a lie is to compare it to the truth.
And when I see my value through my Savior’s eyes, all other comparisons dissolve into irrelevance.
And the fringes of my faith grown stronger and better at keeping out the dark.
Absolutely poetic! Thank you for posting this on the exact day that I needed to read these words.
Oh boy, did I need to be reminded of this today! Thanks Lisa-Jo xx
Phew, girl. I hate how those parasites can whisper their lies and convince me it’s truth. I pray that I get faster at flushing them out and treating them with the best medicine…His Word!
Thank you for this, LJ!
Amazing! I am taking this to heart…we have a lot of similar lies…thank so much for the encouragement! *blessings* on your day..hope it’s miraculous!
I really needed to hear this today. Thanks so much for posting it.
Absolutely wonderful. Thank you!
My most favorite passage of Scripture … Isaiah 43:1-4. These verses have carried me through the darkest point in my life. {You can read my take on them here … http://www.scribd.com/doc/26821341/My-Life-Gods-Grace}
Thank you and Amen!!!
no lie – YOU ROCK!
beautiful post we all need to read daily!!
Stef
Thank you Lisa-Jo. Thank you for posting this truth where it becomes most relevant to all of us.
Thank you.
We all needed to hear that.
Ginger
Beautiful, strong words. Too often I let the parasites dig in too far and take over my heart. Calling it was it is powerful; thank you for the reminder.
beautiful1
Yes and Amen. I use a feed reader to read my favorite blogs. My Google Reader lets me focus on the content without being distracted by (read: becoming envious of) someone else’s design. Not a replacement for His truth by any means, just a tool, a way to guard my eyes I guess. Just a thought.
You are my kind of wise woman. Beautiful, practical advice. The best kind.
“I recognize it by how it always puts me at the center of an equation and everyone else in the red.”
Entitlement has been my word for 2010. It’s plagued me and your description here perfectly illustrates how I’ve been feeling, acting, thinking. I’ve been fighting it, but it’s hard!
“We’re preparing to enter the ministry.”
“I’m pregnant with 3 kids.”
“My grandma died.”
Everything is another excuse for why I deserve more than I’ve been given. Which then means that when others bless me with assistance (whether physical, financial or whatever) I don’t feel as grateful as I want to. It’s never unexpected and I fight the disappointment that it’s not more.
Ugh. I’m gonna quit reading your blog because you keep poking the things God’s exposing in me.
Just kidding…loved this!
I love reading your responses to my posts – I always feel like I learn new things from them. You are lovely and brave. Thank YOU!
I’m going to start calling you my muse because somehow my responses to your posts end up being novels. Maybe I should start a blog series that is just responses to your posts. Haha!
A reminder I never cease needing to hear. I guess sometimes the lies are easier to believe…until the Truth is in front of me.
Like now :).
Yes, I write these thoughts down as a note to self – because I need the reminder daily too. {PS: My heart does the happy “dance” when I see your name in my comments – get it? ;)
These words will PREACH!
Hello, Conviction. Yes, we’ve met before. I think it was right here on Lisa-Jo’s blog, in fact. :-)
Ha! I guess soap boxes and airing our dirty laundry are all in a day’s work for a mom, no? ;)
All I can say is thank you… I needed this today.
Powerful, powerful words. I will need to recall each one as I endure my long commute home this afternoon. That is usually when the lie pounces on me.
The commute and I are not friends. I have recently switched to giving the train a try – gotta say, it’s the most fantastic block of 40 minute writing time – lovin’ it so far!
Truth!! Thank you for this post – we all need this reminder.
the truth reveals so much.
thank you for reminding me of what i am to Him.
Amazing how when we see ourselves through His passionate eyes, how foolish it suddenly seems to wish we were anyone else…
Great post! I too often compare myself to others because of my own insecurities, especially about parenting. God is trying to show me (and very often through your writing) that I only need to compare myself to Jesus–in which case I have failed. Thank the Lord that He freely gives His grace!
Love this TRUTH and you fighting those lies tooth and nail with the SWORD of the SPIRIT! It’s so easy (as women, especially I think) to turn molehills into mountains. And too often I try to fight off the insecurity that creeps in by myself instead of leaning on the power of God’s Word to fight that battle for me. Thank you for the reminder, Lisa-Jo, that we should go to HIM and His TRUTH, even over that stinkin’ ripped diaper genie bag. Beautiful!
Thank you. :)
“the best way to identify a lie is to compare it to the truth” – mmmm… that is so powerful. too often i settle for just wallowing in the lie. drowning it. letting it suck all the air out of me.
in those moments, i need to do the hard work of comparing it to the truth…
Yea, that’s the thing – it is hard, hard work to pry those fingers off the neck and look the liar in the face. Wallowing can be so much less effort. But people like you inspire the fight in me, Alece!
Oh, so good, so life-giving, soul-freeing good. Yes and amen. XOXO
Fantastic, wonderful post. Breaking Free!!!!
Thank you Lisa Jo… Just what I needed to be reminded to DO. And it feels MUCH better : )
Ahhh, my friend suggested I come over and read this post. So glad she did!
How powerful the Truth is. Thank you for writing this out for us!
Hey Lisa-Jo,
Go check out my new look too. Woot!
You nailed it…thanks for shining the light on the truth for that sets us free.
Blessings.
we are walking similar steps these days, lady. what a great encouragement — and a much needed (as in, a gazillion times a day) reminder …
Absolutely awesome post. I so needed to hear that today. I will be going to an event that will involve seeing many people from my past, that I really don’t want to see. But since it involves family, I have to go. I have been feeling major insecurity over this and much anxiety. Most of it is, in truth, petty insecurities about myself, what has been blown out of proportion in my head. What I ‘think’ others think of me. And most of it isn’t anywhere near the truth.
Thank you for putting things into perspective and stating the truth. The scripture reference was like balm to my spirit, helping me to see things much more clearly.
I really do love what you serve up at this Table! Thank you for the nourishment and refreshment! Hope you don’t mind, I’m gonna keep inviting myself over!
~kristin
Oh please do! I love having company around to put their feet up on the tables and kick their shoes off by the door!
…then consider me bare foot!
Coming off of an unbelievable week where I allowed myself to believe all kinds of lies, this was such a wonderful reminder to confront them head on and turn to the Word for the truth. I was able to do that this weekend and this morning has been a night and day difference. Not my circumstances, but my outlook.
Thanks.
Yea, circumstances can tell us all kinds of crazy stuff. It’s hard not to buy into it – I’m wrestling some of those lies this morning – thanks for the reminder not to buy into it.
I love finding other people who recognize the power we have in Christ to rise up and defeat the enemy and his lies! In complete agreement with you sister :) You write beautifully and have an excellent blog. I’ll be at Relevant10, see you there perhaps?!
Thank you – and yes, looking forward to connecting with so many fine folks at Relevant!!
thank you for sharing that. i needed … .Truly _ needed to read that today.