Sunday, July 28, 2024

Don't Let Others Drag You Down

Hello!  😊

I hope this will be a little encouragement for all of us.  
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Although most are teens now, my husband was a favorite among the younger children in the family. They loved to have tickle fights and other such nonsense with Uncle Robert.

Once our oldest great nephew was with my mother-in-law. He was about three, I think. He was looking at pictures of family members she had on display in the living room.

As he looked at the pictures, she asked who everyone was. He knew almost everyone including ‘Uncle Robert.’ However, when my mother-in-law asked who I was he looked at my picture for a few seconds and simply answered, “her.”

He knew I was part of the family, but couldn’t remember my name. A situation like with a young child like this is one thing. It is another thing entirely when an adult refuses to acknowledge us.

It can be painful when we find ourselves in circumstances like these. It can damage our self-esteem – make us feel unworthy. It is sad, but it happens.

This is when we need to do our best to separate ourselves from the situation. We cannot let it pull us down.

Doubt and discouragement are two of the devil’s biggest tools. He will use people and different scenarios to make us feel small and insignificant.

We should remember Who we belong to. Christ loves us far beyond anything we can ever imagine. Romans 8:37 tells us “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Remember Elijah? He had that fantastic moment on Mount Carmel where he defeated the prophets of Baal. God was there that day.

Jezebel didn’t ignore Elijah; but she still made him feel small and unimportant. She threatened his life. Even a prophet of God was not important to her.

Elijah was afraid. He ran. God was there then too. He sent an angel to feed him and care for him. God never scolded Elijah for being depressed and afraid. The Lord actually gave him a little time.

We can read about this in 1 Kings 19. On Mount Horeb, God sent a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire but He wasn’t present in any of those powerful forces.

In a small still voice the Heavenly Father asked Elijah why he was there. Elijah thought he was the only one left in Israel who was still faithful. God reassured Elijah he wasn’t alone. There were still 7,000 people in Israel who had not bowed to the false god, Baal.

God knows when we hurt too. He has great compassion for His own. And just like the Lord needed Elijah, He needs us. He has work for us to do in the name of His son.

Let’s not allow discouragement or doubt to drag us down. The devil will be happy if we feel unimportant because we aren’t working for God when we are hurting. People will disappoint us and make our hearts ache. Our God will never let us down. Never.

Christ above all things and much love to all – Robin