Arms that grab and entangle.
Tentacles with suckers that hold you fast. Does it feel like those arms try to grab you,
pull you in, and drain out every ounce of joy?
Sometimes I feel this octopus has more than eight arms.
As we swim and navigate through life, the arms, tentacles
and suckers of this octopus threaten to suck all the joy out of our lives. Keep us in the doldrums. Cause anger or fear. Hold us fast in the clutches of resentment and unforgiveness.
But the joy of the Lord is our strength! I once heard Joyce Meyer say, “If Satan can’t
steal your joy, he can’t steal your goods!”
Remember the expression, "I felt like the rug was pulled out from under me?" Here are some downward dragging, rug-pulling, joy-stealing tentacles that weary the
Christian believer, and you could probably add some of your own:
- Friends disappoint
- Leaders and politicians lie
- Moral failures abound
- Violence troubles our nation
- Marriages fall apart
- Children go wayward
- Authority is despised
- Love for God grows cold
- God’s Word is ignored
- Homosexual agenda is relentless
- Moral relativism is honored
- Abortion
- Child abuse
- Pornography
- Child sex trafficking
- Family relationships break down
- Evening news is distressing
- Persecution
- Breakdown of our society
- Financial troubles
- Hopelessness
I see this octopus with many suckers as a threat to living a joyful and victorious Christian life.
I see this octopus cloaking itself in inky blackness as it
tries a new approach to dislodge the believer from the Solid Rock.
I see this octopus retreating as the believer fights the
good fight of faith by speaking the Word of God and encouraging himself and
others in the Lord.
Recently a lovely young Christian mother said to me, “As a Christian in high school, I began dating a young man who I knew
was not good for me. He drank, smoked,
and did things that were not good. But I
refused to break it off with him.
“Then one night, I had a vivid dream. I saw a little lamb with a rope around its
neck being slowly pulled toward a cliff.
I heard these words, ‘A lamb led to the slaughter.’ I knew when I awoke that the little lamb was
me. I immediately broke things off with
this guy, burned and got rid of everything I had in my possession that pertained
to him.”
I liken the octopus’s tentacles and suckers to that rope
around the lamb’s neck. We believers in the
Lord Jesus need to keep His word, and be aware and watchful of our beliefs and actions, lest we find ourselves being drawn away from the solid rock of
truth.
I think of Jesus’ words about the wise and foolish builders
in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV):
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock. But everyone who
does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on
sand. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell with a great
crash.”
God holds all things together by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3 KJV) I want to be held together, don't you? Put His Word first place in your life; make God the final authority for your life.
Dear reader, don’t leave your house built on the rock and
move to one that’s built on the sand. Don’t
let the octopus' arms, tentacles and suckers pull you off the sure foundation
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you’re struggling to keep your joy, stay in God's Word. Find scriptures
that pertain to your situation. You may
want to write them out on 3 x 5 cards and tape them to the fridge or a bathroom
mirror. Quote the Word of God aloud in
every situation you face, believe and rest in the Word of God, then cling to it
come hell or high water. Train yourself to think on good things. Stay on the
Rock, and you’ll keep your joy!
Copyright © 2013
Elaine Beachy
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