Not Today Satan
I don't know if anyone else needs to hear this, but I know I do so excuse me while I just preach to myself for a few seconds.
This morning Miles and I were scheduling out our week and the introvert in me could have easily burst into tears looking at all of the events filling up the calendar. Not only is it for some reason an already a busy week for us with random things, but throw in that it's Easter week (a big week for a lead pastor if you didn't know) and all of a sudden every single hour of every day is filled with something. We were starting to get a tad overwhelmed as we tried to squeeze everything in. Meanwhile, our child was singing into the baby monitor because she decided her morning nap is optional as of late. After an hour of listening to her NOT sleep, I grabbed her and let her join us as we closed out our meeting in prayer. I'm glad I did because holding a sweet babe in your arms somehow always shifts your perspective. As we prayed together we simply praised the Lord for all He has done and asked Him to get us out of our own way. It was short, it was simple, but it was needed.
We were stressing out about the craziness of our life/church schedule when we should have been sitting in reverence for the One that we are celebrating this week. The One that paid it all on a cross on our behalf and then defeated death by rising again. And here we are complaining about a full calendar. Thinking about ourselves. Forgetting what this week, this LIFE, is all about.
NOT TODAY SATAN.
There is an older song by Hillsong United that we sang in our youth group growing up that I love going back to. It's called "Shout Unto God" and it repeats these two phrases over and over again.
The enemy has been defeated
Death couldn't hold You down
Gonna lift our voice in victory
Gonna make Your praises loud
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up, we lift Your name up
YES. The enemy has been defeated! Satan has no place here! He may try with all he has to hold us back from living in victory. He may try to hold us back from singing praise to the One who SAVES. He may try and make us think that what we are carrying will defeat us in the end.
BUT NOT TODAY SATAN.
I'm not sure what it is for you. It may be something that seems small and meaningless like a busy schedule. Or it may be something that seems too big to handle like anxiety, illness, or loss. Whatever it may be, we are not alone. We do not have to carry it alone. And we do not have to fear. The battle has already been won!
So today I am choosing to live in the victory of Jesus Christ conquering the grave. And I am going to choose it tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. I hope you will join me. Let's let go and live in the fullness that Jesus has for us!
Happy Easter week, friends. HE IS RISEN.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”