I woke up in the early hours of the morning, that old familiar churning in the pit of my stomach. Feeling stretched too thin. Since Mr. Virgo died, I have struggled with grief and anxiety periodically. I’ll go long stretches and feel great. Nothing fazes me. Then, when I get over extended with too many obligations, or I get confronted with a memory or event that stirs my grief, I lose my focus.

When I focus on God and put all my trust in Him, I do much better. When I lose that focus, I give Satan wiggle room to weasel his way into my thoughts. It would be different if this only happened once or twice in my life, but this happens over and over and over. Granted, farther apart than it used to but I want it gone for good.

When I ask God to carry my burdens, he gladly does. I just forget to ask sometimes. That independent woman who thinks I ought to be able to buck up and take care of business gets in my way. I’m finally learning, when these moments occur, I need a good solid dose of Vitamin Jesus. His prescription pad is the Bible. When I turn to His Word for sustenance my anxiety eases. That knot in the pit of my stomach lets go.

I was in small group from church a couple weeks ago. A strong woman I’ve met a few times was sitting to my right. She told a story about these people who came to her house for a visit. She is a widow and these people brought doom and gloom to her door. They were talking about illness and death and dying and this person was sick and that person died. (I don’t know if it’s a West Virginia thing or a Southern thing or if we get to a certain age, illness and death seem to be the main focus of any conversation.) Well, my new friend was having nothing of it. She said the visit was brief. She walked her guests to the door and once they left, she stood there…waving her arms in the air, pushing all that negative energy right out the door on the heels of those who brought it. She said, out loud, “You aren’t welcome here, Satan. Take your bad energy and thoughts and get right out of my house!” It was a lesson for me…an eye-opening experience.

So, yesterday morning, when I awoke with that old familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach, instead of feeling sick all day and ruining the poolside BBQ we had planned, I turned to God’s Word for a little dose of Doctor J. I’m doing a 14 day bible study plan with the gals from my small group. It’s based on the work of Joyce Meyer. 2 Corinthians 10:4 was the verse she was discussing yesterday morning.

We forget to take up our weapons sometimes. We forget these are not the slings and arrows of this world. These weapons have Divine Power. They hold the same Divine Power Jesus used to heal the sick and raise the dead and calm the seas. The very same power. God gave them to us. He sent his Holy Spirit to deliver them the day we gave our lives to follow Christ. These Powers are ours to use to defeat the enemy at every turn. We just have to remember they are there, believe in their strength, and pick them up.

I love those moments when I turn to God and say, “Help! I’m drowning over here! I can’t do this.” I turn to His Word and he gives me this scripture. I was laying curled up in my bed, sure I was going to have to cancel the day’s fun activities when this started. Within a few moments, I flung the enemy and his stinkin’ thoughts right out the window. I mean, I sat up, physically brushed all that negative crap off of me and went all Pentecostal and said…out loud…”Be gone! Get out of here. You are not welcome in my home and in my life!” Within 10 minutes or so, I felt 100% better. The knot in my stomach was gone. The feeling of dread vanished. The nausea ceased. And I felt like a new person.

When they say there is power in the name of Jesus, they really aren’t kidding. Demons flee at the sound of His Name. Don’t forget to use that power when you need it. And…walk STRONG! ❤

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬