Do you get spam? Does it frustrate you? It sure did me, too.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working on my mindset and trying to be more positive. I’m a pretty positive guy, but when I’m not paying attention, sometimes a technology or email server glitch can bug me big time. Yikes!
I’ve been working on catching myself and retraining my brain to have peace and know that although things are going to happen, I don’t need to make it worse in my brain.
Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
OK, but this is different. Or is it? I tend to be really good at justifying at times. Sometimes my brain allows victim thinking to come in. I think, however, a shift has happened.
I recently read that we should say a prayer for our enemies, even people who do wrong to us. To me that means even spammers, even hackers who disrupt our flow. Would you ever do that? It can be challenging, and it can also bring you peace.
Coming home from Alaska this weekend, I got stuck at TSA. Due to too many electronics in my computer bag, I often get stopped. They do the little swab test, and I’m good. No problem. It’s normal. This time, however, the swab test was positive for the first time in my travel history. Yikes!
TSA then proceeded to take every single item out of my carry-on computer bag. I mean every one of them! Every case was unzipped, from my Bose headsets down to the last paper clip. Needless to say, it took a long time. In the past, I would have tried to remain calm, but inside my head I would have been thinking, “Seriously! Are you kidding me?” Not healthy. I had one tiny, half a whisper for a second in the middle of it, but then I was good. It was cool and peaceful. They were doing their job. Mine was to stay calm and let go of control. God’s got this. It was nice. I felt at peace.
Now, this may be my bias, but soon after, I felt a mini-miracle. I had been trying to find a bar near my gate to watch my Patriot’s football game. To my shock, they were actually showing the Patriots right at my gate! Wow. It felt like God was saying to me, “Nice job, well done. Here is a little bonus.”
Amen. I receive it.
Thank you, God, for Grace, Truth, Love, and Laughter,
Darren
(Reminder, this is just a journal of my mistakes, experiences, and thoughts along my journey to having a closer relationship with God. I do not claim to be an authority on the subject. If you want to know The Way, read The Bible.)
What church do I attend? Verve Church in Las Vegas http://vivalaverve.org
P.S. Thank you, especially, for grace.
Want to see more God Blog posts? https://darrenlacroix.com/category/godblog/