Gotta Love 4am

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood ~ Ephesians 6:12

You've got to love 4am. A 4am wake-up call from God means that I need to deal with something, listen up, pay attention, and/or pray. This morning, it was all the above. The last couple days, I’ve been dealing with something that I didn't see coming and am always astounded and disturbed by how easily I get caught up in the petty nit-picking that goes on between people. Before I know it, I've stopped looking at them as a child of God and all I see are their words picking at me and their fingers pointing out all the things that I've done wrong, all the while they have placed themselves on top of the mountain with all the things that they've done right. How do I fall into that trap so quickly that I don't extend grace for the situation?

The “how” is my humanity. It’s because I look with human eyes at a human being and assume the worst instead of the best. But I need to live by God's grace--instead of by my own ability--because God's grace is empowerment. John Bevere recently spoke at our church and he said that God's grace gives me the power to live beyond myself and my abilities and gives me the "ability to walk in the fullness--the full abilities--of Jesus Christ." But... Did you know that the word "but" is a dangerous word. It's a very powerful word. The word "but" negates everything that comes before it. So using the word "but" should come with some thought. So again, God's grace gives me the ability to live in the fullness and full abilities of Jesus Christ, but I have to accept it, believe it, and take ownership of it. If not, then it's as though God's grace is not on me and does not operate in my life.

So, what do I do now? 1) Add “but God.” If “but” negates everything before it and God is the beginning and the end, the completer of all things, then I just need to add “but God” and my situation of “I have not strength,” becomes, “I have not strength, but God…gives me strength, is my rock and my fortress, etc., etc.” 2) Live by grace. We learned that “grace” is God’s empowerment for me to live not in my natural abilities, but in the fullness of Jesus Christ. 3) Remember the name of my real enemy. Ephesians 6:12 tells me that my battle, my struggle, my emotional conflict is not with the person I see standing before me, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Thank you, Lord, for my 4am. Thank you for the reminder, for the revelation, and for loving me enough to drag my butt out of bed at 4am so that you’d have my undivided attention. Help me to have an amazing, empowered rest of the day. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.