We are afraid, and for good reason. We are worried.
But we are the children of the living God. Right? Yes! And since we are children of the Living God, we believe the Scriptures, don’t we? We believe even the verses that say things like, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, I’ll feed you like I feed the birds, I’ll clothe you as I do the flowers (even better than King Solomon!).”
This is a time to be brave, to stand strong, to worship openly and freely, to speak up, to be silent when that speaks more loudly, to stand strong.
We do not have to apologize or worry over who has their feelings hurt when we are talking about defending the weak or the vulnerable. Let’s defend the weak and the vulnerable!
As believers, we know that we are each individually accountable to God for what we do while here on this Earth. What will we do with our days? Will we be still? Be silent? Be worried we will offend? Will fear paralyze us?
I faced a Goliath several years ago. Someone needed to speak up for the vulnerable and weak, and there was nobody doing it — so I did. I felt the prodding of God when I wrote about the abuse that was occurring under an organization, but I also felt the deep, dark, overwhelming presence of darkness.
That darkness enveloped me and it nearly sunk me. One morning, after I had fought the battle alone and was done with all I could do, I woke with a tear coming down my cheek. I was so distressed, I cried in my sleep. I couldn’t get out of bed. I could hear my family, but I was imprisoned in darkness. Emptiness. I couldn’t move, couldn’t process, or think. It was such a dark moment.
If this is what depression feels like, and you often have days like this, I am sorry.
That moment is such a dark spot in my memory that I am afraid of returning there again. And so, for the past several years after slaying the giant, I focused only on what Charlotte Mason, the 19th-century educator, would call “twaddle.” Little bits of nothing that matter much. Of course, there were family moments, and some goals met, but not a focus.
I have not been a warrior.
But the thing is, Lori, and whoever else is reading this, there is nothing else the devil needs to do with you once he has stopped you with fear. With you paralyzed like that, he can resume “roaming to and fro throughout the earth seeking whom he may devour.”
Who do you imagine he will find when he roams? The weak and the vulnerable. And who are the weakest and most vulnerable among us?
The children.
Let’s put on our mama bear armor and be brave for the little ones.
It is hard to be brave. But we must try. We need to focus on the ones who need our help. They need us to be brave.
Let’s put on our mama bear armor and be brave for the little ones.
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