Iron sharpens iron

I’m being transparent here, but this is something I truly struggle with. I've had extremely rough situations to deal with in my life that I've been trying to give to God. I lay it all at the cross of Jesus but then I end up picking it all back up again, harboring all the hurt and at times humiliation, and reliving each situation in horrible flashbacks. I tend to do this with a lot of the hurt and abuse I’ve had in my life. Reliving each painful moment, in vivid color—something someone might say or a situation I see on TV can trigger these flashbacks. 

I'm trying to learn to pray victoriously—and how to pray in every aspect of my life (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). When our thoughts turn to fear, worry, anger, or despair we are to consciously turn it into prayer. The Bible tells us to take each thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and completely give it all to Him. We cannot do anything on our own—we need Jesus. 

I am a procrastinator and I admit being obedient and reading God’s Word does not come easily to me. But I truly feel I draw closer to my Heavenly Father when I do read His Word and pray. Lately I have been reading some devotions and scripture and look forward to this time with Him. It will eventually become a habit—and a good one. 

Unfortunately I feel close to God in spurts. Satan knows my weaknesses—one of them being depression—and he uses this. Satan knows he doesn’t have my soul, but he relentlessly tries to keep me from obeying God. It is a battle...nothing less than spiritual warfare! I have to remember to rebuke Satan, claim the blood of Jesus and to put on the armor of God daily, just as the Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 6:10-18).

It’s fascinating to me to see how God works—to feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit to pick up that Bible and read it and not to just have it sitting on the coffee table collecting dust. And like the old hymn says—“and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Turn your eyes upon Jesus...”

Here's a few more words from my heart: It's a little harder to feel animosity towards someone when you’re praying for them. This is huge! We need to see them as the broken human beings they are, desperate for love and acceptance, just like us. We give more grace, because we, ourselves, see how badly we need grace. It's hard, but good. 

It's so amazing to see how the Lord uses us to be the iron that sharpens iron. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."~~Proverbs 27:17 Again, hard to do, but good.