Toothpicks Into Baseball Bats.

Toothpicks into baseball bats.
It is difficult sometimes for young people who are trying to walk in The Way. Satan delights in putting stumbling blocks in their way and we must be mindful to encourage and support them.

Psalm 91 (New International Version)
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Sometimes when we are feeling stressed everything is magnified. We imagine everyone is upset with us. Everyone is talking about us. Nothing we do is pleasing to others.

In our minds we talk ourselves right out of the shelter of the Most High.

The interesting thing is that we tend to get very annoyed when others feel the same way about us. We frown and shake our heads when someone accuses us of “looking at them as if…..”, talking about them or whatever other ill wind they imagine that we feel towards them. We get annoyed because we truly haven’t given them such an exalted place in our lives that they consume our every thought; yet we believe that we occupy prominence in their thoughts.

As I surfed this morning trying to find a favorite TV ministry I paused at one that I never watch. At that moment the minister said “sometimes Satan puts a toothpick in the hands of our enemies and we grow it into a baseball bat for them to beat us over the head with.”
This is what we do when we magnify imagined slights.

Now, what if they really are talking about us or plotting against us. Will our fretting provide a solution?

There is a very easy remedy for this. Joyce Meyer reminded me of the fact that we believe more strongly what comes out of our own mouths than anything we read or hear from others.

When we need a word of encouragement and support, we have an unfailing source, our bible.

Now, do we truly trust God to be our refuge and our fortress or do we leave ourselves open to the slings and arrows of the world?

Do we truly rest in the shelter of God? Do we truly trust in Him?

2 Timothy 2
23Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Do not take the toothpicks of dissention that Satan puts into the hands of our enemies and turn them into baseball bats. Instead, be kind to everyone and teach them by the life you lead.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!