The Book of Miracles

"Laugh much. Laugh often."

WHEN YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING UNDER, stand up and praise the Lord. When the thoughts in your head take over, sing Him a song, sing it loud! When the room seems small and dark, turn the light on. Or go outside, and while you’re out there, do something! The worst thing to do when all you can do is think is to sit and think. I’m a homebody. Or I was. Now, I get out every day. I involve myself in something, church or shopping or eating. I love eating. I text my friends. I walk the dog. She loves that. I go to the store every other day, or it feels that way. I use activity to stop the nonsense in my head. When I’m locked in a place of seeming nonsense and nothing is making sense, I pat whatever’s in front of me and say, “Well, this is real.” This table. This soil. This object.

There’s something to be said for ear-splitting, fast music. My husband is a rock drummer. Our 34 years together has given me a wide range of genres. Sometimes, you need to know the words but not be able to distinguish them. I just say the Holy Spirit wrote this and let it blast the enemy way out of my head. Other times, I need a good beat. I’m a child of the 1980s. When you’re at that moment where you just can’t stand to think anymore, then LISTEN TO SOMETHING ELSE. My mom sometimes asks my dad to find something on TV that she doesn’t have to diagnose or study. You know the type, that thing you’ve seen 1,000 times. Do that. Then follow it with what turns your eyes toward Jesus. The things of this earth only fade in the light of His glory and grace when we make time to worship.

“Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
in the camp of the saved?
“The hand of God has turned the tide!
The hand of God is raised in victory!
The hand of God has turned the tide!”
(Psalm 118:16 MSG)

READ THE WORD OUT LOUD. When you can hear God speaking, then the enemy isn’t. READ IT to the birds, to the cat! THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE. I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT. Rejoice in Him and rejoice again. Find that spot in your house where no one can see you and dance. Dance. It doesn’t matter how silly it is. God is in you. The God who saved the world has given you His strength, His life, and His joy. USE IT. Laugh much. Laugh often. Laugh and picture God laughing. I have it from Him firsthand that He LOVES TO LAUGH, and sometimes finds us incredibly funny. The Savior of the World is always full of HAPPINESS. He is the SOURCE OF IT.

FORM RELATIONSHIPS. Surround yourself with friends who love you and support you, who will go places with you. Join groups. Church groups, sports groups, groups that keep you active physically and mentally. If you are at a loss where to start in this and you are like me, an introvert, then pray and ask God for direction. WAIT … DID I SAY PRAY? YES->PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Pray all the time. Famous preacher Smith Wigglesworth was once asked how often he prayed during the day, and he said he never went more than 15 minutes without prayer. I pray constantly, and here’s a fun truth, if you turn your voice, your tongue, over to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to pray through you, you will dive much deeper in prayer. There are places we can go in prayer in the Spirit that we cannot go in our native language. And if you’ll listen, you’ll hear Him speaking. You’ll become AWARE of Him, and when you are AWARE of the Holy Ghost then you will not be aware of the thoughts in your head anymore. You will gain control over them through Him.

Anxiety and fear leading to depression all come in because we think too much. We have to get to the point of maturity where we recognize them when they are coming in. We wake ourselves up and know we are lost in our thoughts. We hear the enemy’s voice hissing in our ears and put our foot down. Instead of going along with it, we choose to fight back, with the Word, with prayer, with joy, but in all of these by DOING SOMETHING. Being silent and inert is the problem. So GET UP. Put something else in your mind. When the bedroom is too small, go to the kitchen. Bake something. When stuff inside you is too loud, put headphones on, retreat and listen to some good preaching. Find a minister whose style of speaking is clear to you and listen to a sermon on repeat. The more you hear it, the more you will get it. And here’s a key, anointed preaching is full of the Holy Spirit. He’s the anointing. He will meet you there. Even if you don’t catch it all, the Spirit’s presence is in it.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Go out-of-the-box for you. When your day-to-day is becoming bland and normal and the devil is using it to harass you, then PUT GOD IN YOU FIRST. He is never boring. Never. He wants you to be the best you He’s ever made. He loves how you are, how you think and create. He has huge plans for you, and they will grow the more you take hold of them. You feel like “little ol’ boring you,” but God sees potential. I never had a vision for my life until I put God first place. I never knew He could talk so clearly until I started listening. Until I sought for Him, I didn’t find Him, but instead, the thoughts in my head became fodder for the enemy to lead me astray. No more.

We treat God with reverence, and that is as it should be. We must fear God. But He is our Father, and Jesus calls Himself our Friend. The Holy Spirit is our Friend, our Comforter, our Advocate. He’s legal counsel on our side, and here’s the best part – He never loses a case! He’s also our loving, generous Papa.

The only destruction to a glorious, wonderful future is ourselves. We allow the enemy a toehold, calling it whatever we will: “common sense”, “caution”, etc. Instead, RENEW YOUR MIND to who God is, and having done all to stand, having kept standing in the face of doubt and turmoil and circumstances, health crises, push forward toward the prize of the high calling and never, ever look back except to see how far you’ve come and REJOICE in the process! If you can hear the devil’s voice, know that God is closer and louder. You will never hear the enemy that God is not there, stronger than ever. God works miracles every minute of every single day. The Bible is a book of miracles. I have decided to be one. Join me.

“With my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to secure the prize of God's heavenward call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 Weymouth)

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)

Image by Eva Michálková from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com