The devil made me do it

Aaah. . .summer is over. Chilly mornings have been waking me up. . .the neighbor kids are back in school. . .we have started our homeschool year, and there is, once again, peace on the homefront. Sweet peace. . .

. . .Except for the spiritual wars going on inside me, of course.

I have many wars in many areas of my life that I need to "give to God." What does that even mean? I've said it over and over, even weeping at times. . ."God, I surrender. This is yours. Please take this burden from me." And I wait. . . Nope. Nothing seems different.

Darn Satan! If he'd just leave me alone, I wouldn't have these problems! Right? Yeah. . .no.

To quote one of my favorite songs (that you can hear on my playlist to the left, if you'd like) by Sara Groves, "Generations":

To say that the devil made me do it is a copout and a lie
The devil can't make me do anything when I'm calling on Jesus Christ!

It's not the devil's doin', although he is constantly poking at me. The Bible tells us that we have authority over him. (So in the name of Jesus, get behind me, Satan!!!!!)

It's not that God doesn't want to take my burdens from me. It's that I take my eyes off of Him. It's like Peter in the boat. Peter told Jesus, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus simply replied, "Come." Peter walked on the water, but as soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus and let fear creep in, he began to sink.

It seems so simple, yet, the distractions of this life draw our eyes elsewhere, in the opposite direction of God. I have been praying for focus. . .focus on Him. And He has answered. I suspect He's always answered me in one way or another. I've just made the foolish mistake many times in the past of asking and then just expecting all to be well. This time I have asked, believed and kept my eyes on Him. The peace and comfort and power and freedom I'm feeling are immense. And this, I believe, is what He wants for me.

I hope and pray the same for you. (Really! I just prayed for you!) :)