{ Be a light in the darkness }

My heart is heavy.

I've avoided talking about the current situation in our country, because so many people are talking, talking, talking, and talking.  Voices are constantly being shouted, being demanded, being forced upon the population.

Instead, I have focused on praying, on being in the Lord's word and on sticking to my lane.  I've prayed over the country, the President and especially over the youth that is so misguided and so completely in the clutches of the devil, that they can't see straight.

I say misguided because the enemy is an expert on misrepresentation, on deceiving and lying and making things seem what they are not.  Much like in the Garden of Eden when he got Eve to disobey God simply by presenting things to her in a way that made her feel she was being wronged.

Repeatedly I have asked God what to do. What do I DO?  What is my place in all this, what is my purpose, how do I help or use my platform?

The answer was loud and clear.

Be a light in the darkness!!!

I think may of us bloggers have been feeling like we don't know how to help, while quietly praying in the shadows and hoping to be able to have the right words or the right actions to help in some sort of way.

At the moment, we have warriors on the street, men and women of God preaching the Lord's word, putting their lives at risk, trying to reach the hearts and souls of our young people.  I follow a few of them on Instagram and I pray for them daily.  I won't go put myself out there, and that's ok, because I think that God understands and knows that we all have different purposes, different journeys but together we work for HIS purpose and HIS glory.

What I have found in this time that Curt and I have been facing this uncertainty, which came completely out of nowhere for us, is to not only be deep in prayer and closer to God, but I've been making it a purpose to pray for everyone and anyone that I come across that has a need, or not.

Some ask for prayer, others just mention their struggles, and yet a few more say nothing but I feel led to pray for them.

I can focus on what is happening to me directly and mull it over, cry over it, beg, weep and so on......or.....I can ask for prayer, leave it in God's hands, put on my armor of God and go out there in body or spirit, shining His light brighter than ever.  Showing people that even through our own struggles we are here for each other, and you can still learn from someone going through a similar situation.

As Christians we are tested, over and over and over again.  God wants to see how we react to certain obstacles that are placed in our path.  Some he places Himself, but most are placed there by the enemy and allowed to be done so by our Father, in order to test our faith.

Some obstacles don't even phase me, I just move right on and don't give it thought, and then others like the current job issue, shake me to the core.  What I am learning through these tests is to not react to what is thrown our way.

I heard a great teaching yesterday, where the Pastor was explaining that a few months ago they had a policeman give a talk on how to react if there is an active shooter situation.

And he said there are 3 things you should do, if you're ever caught in the middle of it.

RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!

So you run, if you can't run you hide, and if you are found or can't hide, you FIGHT.

The Pastor was explaining that we need to take those 3 things and apply them to the spiritual attacks by the enemy.  When he shoots something our way, we run.  We run to GOD, not from God and we don't just sit there and take it either.

We run to God.

Then we hide.  We hide behind God because nothing will get to us if we live in his shadow.

And lastly we fight.  We pray, we put on the armor of God, we equip ourselves with His word and we stand our ground.

Boy was that a wake up call to me.

All this to say, the atmosphere of anger, violence, disrespect and destruction that we are experiencing around our country, is an all out attack by the enemy.

As Christians we NEED to take up our weapons (God's word) and we need to fight.  We should be praying now more than ever.

"Oh but I don't really know anyone, and the few I do won't listen to me.  I'm not a big influencer.  I don't reach that many people."

Excuses!!!

This is what God has been putting into my heart lately.  There are no excuses, the time is now.  We need to pray, we need to shine His light, we need to share our testimonies and bring forth the goodness so that it can overshadow the fake media news that do nothing but incite more violence.

We don't reward violence with violence.  We don't fall into those traps.  We don't surround ourselves with negativity and toxic people, and that goes for friends and even family members.

This is the time to rise up and to take charge.

I don't care if only one person sees my posts or reads them, or watches one of my Instagram stories, or clicks on one of my Instagram posts.  That one person may be needing the truth, may be needing salvation, may be needing peace and comfort and to know that even though chaos is spreading around us, there is a place where we can abide in love and peace.  God's arms.

So don't be afraid to speak out.  Use your platforms for the good, don't buy into the narrative and feed into the negativity and violence that already exists.

You are God's warriors, just like I am. 

I pray the peace of God over each and every single one of you who may come to read this post.  I pray that the Lord give you the spirit of discernment, of grace, of mercy, and that he begins to break any strongholds the enemy has tried to place in your lives, your family and your homes.

No one is out of this spiritual battle.  Not one single one of us gets to sit it out, but we do get to decide which side we're fighting for and my decision is a simple one.  Have you made your decision yet?