I work in a tall building downtown on the 44th
floor, and in the lunchroom where I eat, they have floor to ceiling windows. The other day I was sitting by the window and I looked straight down and a certain
foreboding fear came over me, as though death was close upon me and the only
thing standing between me and a painful demise, was a thin glass pane.
The next day it happened again, and again after that.
Suddenly, I looked up into the sky and I imagined I could fly. I saw myself
soaring up into the heights of heaven, higher than the building I was sitting
in. The fear of death disappeared and I felt the fearful foreboding leave me. I
became like a woman of power. Yesterday, as I sat at that same table, I saw
myself flying and soaring over the traffic below without any fear or trepidation of evil demise.
"Fly like an eagle into the future, I want to fly like an
eagle, let the Spirit carry me. I want to fly."
(Song lyrics by the artist, Seal)
I think, sometimes the things that hold us back don't come upon us like a flood. It creeps in unnoticed like a snail. One defeating thought after another, and eventually we are convinced we can't do anything, and we are stuck.
I've been praying about a situation for several months now. I mean... persistent, all day, everyday, non-stop bombarding of the throne room kind of prayer. I was about to get the idea that it was pointless to continue. With every passing day, defeating thoughts have been creeping in that I am wasting my time, or that for some reason God must have an ought against me and that's why my prayers are on ignore.
Jesus, Himself, told a parable about a friend that came to his friend's home at midnight asking for food because another friend of his arrived at his home unexpectedly, and he had nothing to feed him. The friend in the house told him to go away, the door was shut and he and his family were all in bed. He did not want to be bothered. But the friend at the door continued to knock, and was persistent in his tenacity. He would not go away. He would not allow discouraging thoughts to convince him to give up. Jesus said at the end of the parable, "Though he would not rise and give him food out of friendship, he would open the door because of the friend's shameless persistence." So, I will not allow negative thoughts to defeat me, or cause me to walk away from my blessing, or cause me to think my Heavenly Father has shut His door on me, and don't want to be bothered.
I am reminded of David’s defeat over the giant Goliath and
Samson’s defeat of a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. They did not
win, thinking they would lose. They did not win, with a fearful foreboding
lurking over their shoulders. The apostle Paul said we cast down foreboding thoughts and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Thump that devil off your shoulder, trying to convince you the cause is hopeless, and I'll do the same. The Lord hears our faintest cry, and He'll answer by and by.
David spoke to the Lord the words of this song,
"For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. God is my strength and my power, and He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places."
“Where the mind goes, the man will follow. It’s impossible to have a positive life and at the same time, have a negative mindset.”
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5
I'm going to keep on praying, and keep on keeping on, until my change comes.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove