What are you wearing?

I need to be doing paperwork, but somehow God said it's blog time. I've found this is my release when the enemy starts pressing in and I start to feel the stress building. Oh if you could only read my journal over the last few weeks you would see. One day that lying devil will realize that the more he presses in the harder I press in to the one who knows exactly how it all ends. This isn't the same mountain, but a deeper look at the mountain I'm still climbing. Oh how sometimes we just need to admit to Him we know we are on a journey that seems uphill (after all how can He help us climb it or better yet move the mountain out of our way if we won't admit we are climbing a mountain).

He brought David and Goliath to mind last night on my drive to see a play. I didn't anticipate that short drive turning into the beginning of a blog writing session, I truly wasn't looking for it, but isn't that when He usually works. He surprises us in the best way and shows us more than we could have ever imagined(especially since we tend to not be looking for it.). I had picture of David wearing Saul's armor last night. I can only imagine how he must have felt trying to fit in and wear what someone else thought he should wear and fight in. I can only imagine what was going through his head as they tried to tell him every reason why he couldn't fight Goliath. (I love the verse when he says can I just talk). Oh how many times do we find ourselves in David's shoes. How many times do we try to head out to the battle(or just the day) wearing what someone else told us to wear? Stay with me for a minute. The battle is a daily struggle in some area. It could be as small as trying to eat like you should or trying not to stress etc. Don't read too much into the word battle as being something big. In this world today the battle is real and it's time Christians realize it. So what are you wearing into your battle? Are you trying to fit in with what someone else told you to wear/do? or Have you spent time listening to the One who knows you better than you know yourself? David knew what it would take to fight Goliath and win. He wasn't scared because he knew who was in the battle with him. He also knew and remembered how God had moved for him in the past(so why should this time be any different). David had a confidence not in what he could do, but in who(and whose) he was. That was the strength that allowed someone who others saw as not important or weak to accomplish  something great. If David had tried to walk out to fight Goliath dressed in Saul's armor, he would have fallen flat on his face. He knew that trying to do what others wanted him to do and to live their journey wasn't what he was called to do. How many times do we do that? We start a diet just because someone else told us it worked for them. We hold ourselves to standards at work because someone else can get it done. God didn't call us to be someone else, He called us to be us. If He had wanted the same thing to work for all of us and for us all to do the same job the same way, He would have made us more alike. God didn't make all of Jesse's sons alike, and David knew that. Despite the talk that his older brothers must have carried on behind his back, he knew he was different.

How many times do we head out dressed in someone else's armor when God wants us to just pick up the stones He laid out for us? I can imagine that David and God spent a lot of time talking as David was tending to sheep. God knew David's heart and David knew what God had called him to do.

The journey you have set before is one only you can run. He's not looking for you to run it and live it the same way that someone else does. Take the pressure off of yourself now and realize that is unrealistic expectation. Get so close to Him that you can hear when He whispers.."hey child you are off track again." Get so close to Him that you can hear when He says "I've got this". Get so close to Him that you know what He has planned for YOUR life and for your day. Too many times we get frustrated and mad at ourselves, when God is saying live up to my expectations. When we stand before Him one day, the only person we have to account for is ourselves. Oh how well we would do to remember that truth.

So what are you putting on and/or carrying into the battle we call the day, the armor someone else wants you to wear or the stones God said to pick up? The choice will be who falls by the end of the day, you or the giant. Choose with wisdom not feelings.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17