Do you ever have days where someone tries to rip the joy right out of your life?
I do.
And it’s stinkin’ hard. It’s a battle. The good girl part of my brain says, “Be nice. Honor Jesus with your actions. Your response is your responsibility. Self control, Lysa, self control.”
But the mean girl part of my brain says, “How dare they act that way! I’ll show you buster brown.”
One part of me says fold your hands in prayer.
But another part of me says throw your hands in the air and throw a good old fashioned Italian blooded hissy fit.
Issues.
I have them. Maybe most of us girls do. Especially that one special week a month.
But God.
I love how those two words interrupt me. Redirect me. Remind me. Comfort me. Battle the mean girl in me. And cause me to pause.
Pause. Just for a minute, pause. And it’s in that pause where we give the Holy Spirit room to interrupt the mean girl response just dying to come out and bloody the situation.
The Holy Spirit says, “Lysa stop and think. It might feel good in the minute to scream, retaliate, pitch a fit and flood the situation with scary emotions. But it won’t feel good in the long run. It will feel awful in the long run. You’ll feel the sting of regret. Come on Lysa… be rare. Be a girl who looks ahead and determines to do what’s best in the long run.”
Yes, it stinks that this other person is determined to steal our joy.
It really does.
But in reality, my joy can only be stolen if I let it be stolen.
So back off mean girl part of my brain. The Jesus girl in me is taking over. And holding on to every ounce of joy that’s rightfully mine. Circumstances can steal stuff from me. But not my joy.
And all Jesus girls say, “Amen and amen!”
I do.
And it’s stinkin’ hard. It’s a battle. The good girl part of my brain says, “Be nice. Honor Jesus with your actions. Your response is your responsibility. Self control, Lysa, self control.”
But the mean girl part of my brain says, “How dare they act that way! I’ll show you buster brown.”
One part of me says fold your hands in prayer.
But another part of me says throw your hands in the air and throw a good old fashioned Italian blooded hissy fit.
Issues.
I have them. Maybe most of us girls do. Especially that one special week a month.
But God.
I love how those two words interrupt me. Redirect me. Remind me. Comfort me. Battle the mean girl in me. And cause me to pause.
Pause. Just for a minute, pause. And it’s in that pause where we give the Holy Spirit room to interrupt the mean girl response just dying to come out and bloody the situation.
The Holy Spirit says, “Lysa stop and think. It might feel good in the minute to scream, retaliate, pitch a fit and flood the situation with scary emotions. But it won’t feel good in the long run. It will feel awful in the long run. You’ll feel the sting of regret. Come on Lysa… be rare. Be a girl who looks ahead and determines to do what’s best in the long run.”
Yes, it stinks that this other person is determined to steal our joy.
It really does.
But in reality, my joy can only be stolen if I let it be stolen.
So back off mean girl part of my brain. The Jesus girl in me is taking over. And holding on to every ounce of joy that’s rightfully mine. Circumstances can steal stuff from me. But not my joy.
And all Jesus girls say, “Amen and amen!”
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