Fishing

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

 - Day 79 -

There he was... fishing, 

 (right there in the bookstore)

 trying to get me to bite the bait!

I was recently in a local book store studying, when an acquaintance of mine happened to come in with a couple friends of hers. They greeted me and I said my hellos with a smile -- but I sensed that something wasn't quite right. My discernment alarm was going off.

WARNING!  WARNING!

When it comes to being a little different -- "out of the box" -- unique -- even strange... in the  LORD,  I will be the first to lift my hand and say,

"Yup...  that's me!  I'm out there on a limb!"   

Different does not bother me.  In fact,  I enjoy those of you who are considered  "characters."  I find you interesting.  Life would be boring without you.  A totally vanilla world is bland.  Throw on the colored sprinkles and everyone smiles!


On the other hand, there are some people that are just flakey.  I have to wonder sometimes what planet they're from.  I get the impression that they're not quite right.  Personally, I don't enjoy their company and don't hang around them any longer than I have to.  I just can't do it!  It's too weird.

At the bookstore... I was sensing a little bit of that weirdness.  In my mind, I kept asking the LORD...

"What's going here?  

Is there something you want me to do?" 

One at a time, each person took a seat by me and began to share their personal stories.  Almost immediately I noticed a pattern forming.   Their stories were all attempting to induce fear in me --  Fear regarding the call of God on my life;   Fear regarding a divine connection that God has brought my way;  and Fear regarding my future.

Like a hook with a worm dangling on it,  

I could sense the enemy hoping I would bite.

I swear I could hear the devil whispering...

"Come on!   Just grab ahold of the fear.  

Receive the story and make it your own!"

It wasn't straight out there!  No, quite the contrary.  On the surface, it could have been easily overlooked, had I not given an ear to the Holy Spirit within me.  They weren't totally gossiping -- but sort of.  They weren't totally negative -- but I wouldn't describe them as positive by any means.  It was all so "just below the surface" if you know what I mean.  

You know... I'm sure these people are nice enough Christians.  My guess is that they didn't even realize what they were doing.  For me, it's a personal reminder of how careful I have to be regarding what I fill myself with.   We're all susceptible!  If you're not filled with God's Spirit, the devil will gladly fill you up with mediocracy, laziness,  gossip, fear and the like.  He does that when you sit down to watch t.v. or engage in unprofitable conversations. To put it bluntly... 

You can spill goodness on people,

but you can also spill crap.

When I realized that the conversation had nothing to offer, and God gave me the okay to leave, I nicely excused myself from the group, and headed home.  Immediately upon walking in the door, I went to the bathroom, leaned over the tub, and washed my hands and arms, like a doctor preparing for surgery. 

"LORD,"  I said.  "I know this is just symbolic,  but I pray you would wash me from head to toe,  inside and out, of any spiritual bacteria that has come upon me from that encounter, in Jesus Name!"

Today, I met with my Spiritual Mama and we talked about the importance of "guarding the atmosphere."  I can't control what others fill up on.  I can only control what I carry around.  I take that responsibility seriously.  If I'm going to spill on people, I want to spill God's goodness.  That said... though I can't control what others carry, I can get up and leave their space, so they don't spill it on me.  Sometimes... that's just something you have to do.

In RED shoes,

Gail