Walls

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired...You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General and 1912 Olympian

I am not a believer in coincidences. I think everything happens for one reason or another, however big or small. Everything has significance. Most of the time we fail to take time to pay attention and give things the value that they deserve. People especially have meaning and significance that we don't always honor. Recently my life has been changed in extraordinary ways by friends that are far away.

Many of you know that I struggle with self-deprecating thoughts. I can tear myself apart pretty easily. I know all of my weaknesses and continue to remind myself how truly inadequate I can be. My greatest challenge is to overcome these thoughts. I do my best to remember that I am a child of God, I am His. He knows me and loves me. He uses my weakness to show His strength.

A short time after my devotional time on Saturday I received a text from my friend Janell (gotta love technology). She was at a craft fair selling her pots to raise money for her missions trip to Africa next summer. She too had spent some time in prayer and chose to share some scripture with me.

Psalm 18:28-29 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

The words from the Psalm were the reminder I needed. If Janell realized it or not, her desire to share these beautiful words helped me find Hope. A wall, that is what my mind can be. A troop full of negative, hateful thoughts. Darkness in need of light. I can be a great encourager to my friends using God's Word but in the same breath forget their significance in my own situations. "...with my God I can scale a wall." I can overcome this in my life. With my God's strength and light I can have a renewed mind. I will scale this wall in my life.

In our God's perfect timing he also used the beautiful words in a worship song this morning. It is one that I have sung many times before, but today it had conviction. A portion of the lyrics by Jason Upton (I Will Wait):

There's a wall that stands in front of me

That I know I just can't climb

And like an eagle you will carry me

Its just a matter of the time