When I get overwhelmed, I tend to pull away and say, “I just need to THINK!” Yet I’m not thinking clearly, I’m thinking crazy. Things go through my head like, “I hope this gets better. I don’t know if there is any way out of this. Oh, man, this is really bad. This probably never happened to anybody else but me.”
I isolate myself in a bubble of self-pity and the devil steps in and joins me.
The devil agrees with me by repeating everything I’M ALREADY SAYING such as, “You’re on the right track. Oh yeah, no one has EVER had a problem like THIS before. Plus you have all of those problems with family and all that other baggage. Yep, you’re a real mess, and you’re ALL ALONE in it.”
Jesus shows us how to handle the devil when we’re isolated.
While Jesus was physically vulnerable (hungry and weak) the devil tempted Him. Jesus shows us what to do by using the Word as His weapon. He answers as a man, walking in our shoes, not as God. He shows us that if we must isolate ourselves, we need to be full of the Word!
The Word says we don’t think straight when we isolate ourselves.
“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Proverbs 18:1
We’ve all done things that we shouldn’t have done, acted in ways that we shouldn’t have acted. Often it is based on emotions (or for the guys, he-motions) which are feelings. Feelings are fickle and not based on faith. Feelings change, the Word doesn’t.
The enemy uses our feelings to drive us into isolation.
“But I will keep under my body and bring it under subjection, lest, by any means I have preached to others and I myself have become a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) The enemy uses our feelings against us. Stay in the Word, read it, talk about it, hear it at church and throughout the week on CD or podcast.
Fight back. Change your thinking, change your words. Don’t speak what you FEEL.
We need to be saying, “Wait a minute, I am not going to isolate myself. I am going to church. I am going to read the Word. I am going to surround myself with positive people. I am an overcomer in the name of Jesus!”
The recipe for success…
The Truth gives you ammunition to use against the enemy if we start to stumble in isolation. Sometimes isolation is a slow drift away from others. Think about what you’re thinking about. The way to know a lie is first, to know the Truth. Learn the Truth that’s in God’s Word. He tells us to connect with others for a reason. There is strength in numbers. Join us!
We want YOU, but even more so, Jesus wants you!
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