So, this is totally gonna date me, but back in the day, television wasn't always 24 hours a day. Crazy right? They used to cut off the broadcast at midnight, play the national anthem and sign off. If you weren't there to turn off your TV, all you got was static because the signal ended, and nothing was being transmitted other than white noise. How many times have you found yourself vested or engrossed in something, perhaps connected to a thing, a person, a job or even a ministry and then abruptly find yourself no longer needed, or that you’re not mastering in the thing you’ve poured yourself into? Perhaps you were laid off after years of service, divorced after years of what was supposed to be lifelong, or just felt stuck? I know I can attest to most, if not all of these things, and let me tell you, they each sucked in their own way! The blow to your ego, self-esteem, and self-worth is legit. The flood of questions and doubt of your self-worth come crashing in hard!
What did I do? Could I have done something better? Was it because I didn’t do? Was I not pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough or worth loving? Could I have sucked up to the bosses more? Maybe I should’ve focused more on my job than my personal life? What am I going to do now? I'm not educated enough. I feel worthless. I failed. Who can love me? Whose gonna want to hire me? THAT my friends, is the CHATTER that needs to be silenced!
The only thing that the enemy can do, because he is a defeated foe, is plant the thought in your head. That annoying negative chatter is constant in your ear until you get up and turn that mess off! You, my dear, have the choice to take that thought captive and take it to the fullest extent you allow. As someone who has been divorced, laid-off and felt stuck career-wise, I can tell you that I for sure allowed for bad things to manifest because I was good at throwing an amazing Pity Party. I just wanted folks to gush over my woes and say, it’s going to be okay girl as they patted my back ever so gently. But the truth is, it wasn't going to be okay until I decided to let go of the hurt so that I could begin to move forward. I had to get sick and tired of being sick and tired! I had to stop trying to do things my way and allow God to do His.
Here is one of the many reasons why I love GOD so much; He’s ok with you being who you are. He doesn’t wait for us to get our crap together before loving us. His love is UNCONDITIONAL! The enemy, however, will convince you otherwise. You’ll hear chatter like, “go ahead and drink your sorrows away” or “go ahead and sleep with them, this is how you can keep them” and the one that is like nails to a chalkboard for me, “shame on you – what are people going to think of you? Isolate yourself.” UGH! LIES! ALL LIES! GET BEHIND ME SATAN! I’m here to tell you sweetheart, you don’t fix your pain with temporary pleasures, you fix pain with purpose! Gods purpose for you!
Now, take a deep breath and give yourself grace if you have already done the things I mentioned as examples. The beauty of grace is that it restores our purpose. My challenge for you this week is to start silencing the enemy by sharing with someone you trust and who has been your life cheerleader and start declaring the opposite of what the enemy has spoken over you to them. We all need that accountability. And if you don't have that somebody, message me; I'll be your soundboard. Just don’t allow for those offenses and the chatter that came from those hurts to remain. Our secrets will haunt our dreams and make us forget our original plans or mess up our relationships. You, darling, are worthy to be loved, you can have success in a career and be happy, you can get out of debt, you can master your craft, you can lose that weight, you can overcome sickness, you can be happy again! Remember, God is for you and so am I!