It was the longest, yuckiest, most boring day of my life.
At the tender age of four, I remember having to sit still in a doctor’s waiting room with a long needle sticking in my arm. My arm was strapped to a long wooden board, I was drinking extra-large bottles of extra-sugary orange soda, and having to get my blood drawn every hour…for 6 long hours.
Thankfully I tested negative for diabetes, but the worst thing about the whole ordeal was THE NEEDLE! I knew it was going to HURT with a capital H!
Leading up to the big day, Mom did her best to prepare me for what was going to happen. She had me put into practice Philippians 4: 8 by telling me to think about something that was true, lovely, or good when the needle went in; so I did.
I vividly remember that moment – my mind floated away to a big yellow kite flying up high in the bright blue sky. It didn’t stop the tears from flowing, or the sting of the needle from hurting…but it did get my mind on other things and that helped me calm down a bit so I wasn’t screaming at the top of my lungs!
That was such a teachable moment for me, and one I have thought about over the years when something painful hit. Instead of being completely overcome by stress, confrontation, fear, etc…I think back to that bright yellow kite and the momentary peace it brought me, and then my mind wanders to the promises God has given to me.
God is with me. He never leaves me, He is for me and not against me, and the enemy’s plans always fail. God turns every single thing that has gone wrong to good! I make myself find something “True, Lovely, Pure” to dwell on, instead of the “what-if’s” of what could happen.
So before something goes wrong; breaks; hits you hard…I would encourage you to write some promises/truths of what God says on 3×5 cards, so you can have them ready to use as weapons against the lies of what the enemy is trying to get you to believe instead of what God says about you and your situation.
With that I’ll leave you with Proverbs 4:23. “Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.”
Know this…YOU are SO Loved!
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