Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Sure, I said a couple quick prayers of panic. But instead of placing my trust in the Lord—that He would do whatever was best for me in this situation—I worried. I directly disobeyed Jesus’ command not to worry from Matthew 6 and Luke 12. I knew that Jesus wanted me to be faithful with what He had given me—a difficult scenario with the option to either worry or trust Him. And I failed Him.
If you think you’re the only one who can’t find the Christmas spirit—at least, the Christmas spirit that's described in Hallmark movies and pop songs—know that you're not. This time of year is emotionally challenging for many, many people. Still, no matter how you feel this Christmas, the truth hasn't changed.
Well, my dream finally came true this year. In July, I signed my first book contract. I’m a published author now. Yet this season of life actually feels unexpectedly anticlimactic.
So when we have to make a morally neutral decision (i.e., a decision that's neither moral nor immoral), we panic. I believe that in wanting to follow God’s will for our lives, we’ve gone from one extreme to the other—not caring what God thinks about our decisions to being terrified that God will despise the decisions that we make. What if there’s a balance between both of those extremes?
When you get stuck in a works-based mindset, open up your Bible and see what God says about grace. It's true that the Bible contains God's commands, but it's not true that you have to keep all of those commands to become (or stay) saved. Read the book of Romans if you don't believe me. You'll discover that He was, is, and will be better than we ever could be.
As a girl who prayed to trust Christ as my Savior countless times after I initially did as a little child, I know that voice well. I completely understand the urge to “re-do” my salvation. But the belief that the first time we asked Christ to save us wasn’t enough is often a lie from Satan. Here are a few of the top reasons that Satan gives for why our childhood salvation wasn’t enough.
When I had anorexia, I was a talented dieter. I was also a very talented deceiver (which isn’t an accomplishment, by the way). Unfortunately, I'm still a very talented deceiver. That’s why I wanted to share some warning signs of anorexia with you—because anorexia can be easy to miss. You might think, “Oh, I could never have anorexia” or “She could never have anorexia.” But before you make such rash judgments, see if you or those you love have exhibited these five warning signs.
As countercultural as this may sound, busyness isn't a virtue. That's probably not the message that you'll get from paying attention to social media, Hollywood, or maybe even your family members and friends. But that's the message that you'll get from reading Scripture. So before you start applauding yourself for having such a busy life, consider slowing down and taking time to rest instead.
Before you roll your eyes and call me old-fashioned for saying that shacking up is sinful, know that I write these words because I want the best for you. I don’t want you to believe Satan’s lies any longer. I want you to know the hard-but-freeing truth. Satan really doesn’t want you to read this, so I challenge you to go for it.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 