God did infinitely more than I imagined.

November 30, 2025

Maria Fear, Psalm 40, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, Trusting God , , , , , , 1 Comment


What if It’s Wonderful? — title of a book by Nicole Zasowski

I read Nicole’s account of listening to God rather than her fears probably four years ago. Her title has become one of my “tools” for battling the temptation to picture negative outcomes. Nicole, a believer in Christ, suffered multiple miscarriages before delivering a healthy baby. She learned to keep trusting the goodness of God despite her past.

“What if it’s wonderful?” turned out to be key this Thanksgiving week. Our family of 12 gathered at our oldest son’s house in Tampa. Mike and I drove down to join our six grandchildren, our two sons, and their wives.

Prior to this journey south, I had indulged in some fearful imagining based on previous experiences with family. On several occasions as grandparents, we had not met the expectations of our sons and their wives in our interactions with the kids.

To top it off, Mike and I had been home not even two weeks from our last trip, and Mike was slowly recovering from a cold. He was feeling the pressure to complete audio work and assist the choir with a strong voice before we departed. We were both stressing.

That is when God started to work His wonders.

By Sunday morning, He had restored Mike’s voice. The choir at Westminster Pres assisted all of us in praising God with song. Later that afternoon, Mike completed some audio work, and we departed with a thankful heart the next morning.

Starting on day one, I made two constant requests of the Lord: one, that our four grandchildren driving down from Virginia would remain healthy so they could enjoy being with their Florida cousins; and number two, that Mike and I would simply enter into all the activities, relax, and enjoy each moment.

I kept hoping and praying, “What if it’s wonderful?” I also asked two friends to lift us up to the Lord each day.

Family holidays are prime time for spiritual attack and for sin to separate us. During our four days with everyone, I sometimes interpreted facial expressions, imagining that someone was not pleased with me. I know—I can be an insecure mother-in-law! As an only child of older parents, I did not grow up with extended family. I never enjoyed the delight of hanging out, basking in the love of grandparents, cousins, uncles, and aunts.

Guess what? The Lord did provide for a marvelous visit. I bet you’re not surprised. After all, this is God who sets us in families and gives us friends. Why wouldn’t He do something more than we could ask or imagine?

All 12 of us remained healthy.

The sun shone, and we spent a lot of time outside. All six kids benefited from fresh air and playful exertion.

Graham and Shay offered their Airbnb to us and our other son and his family. We all had plenty of space.

Laughter reigned as all 12 of us played multiple group games each day.

A sourdough disaster turned into a learning experience for me, thanks to my daughter-in-law Anne. I had brought some sourdough starter and my Dutch oven to make bread with Vera.

We all connected in one-on-one conversations and gained fresh insights about how others think and what energizes them.

Finally, as a small “kiss” from the Father to Mike, my husband shared cigars and conversation last night out by the Hampton Inn firepit with another guest. This was a first.

Our takeaway? Our minds, when predicting the future, can only draw on past experiences. But God is infinite. My motto remains: What if today is wonderful!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
 Psalm 40:5 ESV

Forgetting we are but little kids is dangerous

August 16, 2025

Maria Abiding, Dependence, Matthew 18, Prayer, Spiritual Warfare , Leave a comment

Then he (Jesus) said: I promise you this. If you don’t change and become like a child….Matthew 18:3 NASB

We stopped acting childlike, having grown comfortable in the routines of daily life vacationing in Italy. Today is a national holiday and everyone celebrates by eating out with family and friends. It dawned on me this morning that we should have booked a table for lunch somewhere, so we cast ourselves on Jesus and asked for help. I texted a local restaurant we had tried last Sunday. By grace they worked it out so we could enjoy a special four-course lunch in honor of ‘Feragosto’ and the ‘Assumption of  Mary’. We prayed for safety on the drive down the mountain and back up.  The Lord was gracious. Watching the ‘theater’ of Italian families laughing, chatting and savoring the cuisine entertained us.

After changing into workout clothes, we hopped in the car again, to walk along the river down in the valley. We cheerfully set off down the narrow lanes with blind hairpin turns, content and confident that we were getting the hang of these Italian roads. 

That’s when the trouble started. ‘Mr. Italian GPS’ routed us wrong. Harsh words emerged from my frustrated driving husband   and we ‘almost’ succumbed to disharmony among us. God be praised that we recognized our error.  We had forgotten that we are but little children who need our Daddy. We had not asked for His help. Obviously we didn’t think we needed Him. 

I’m so glad the Father brought us up short right away.  We immediately confessed our false independence and ran back to Him, asking for protection and help.  The enemy tried once more after the walk to mess with us in the car. This quirky rental car does the strangest things. Recognizing another probe from the enemy, we rebuked him and clung to Jesus.

Resolving marital conflict, while vacationing

August 9, 2025

Maria Humility, James 4, Spiritual Warfare , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT

I had to humble myself before Mike as he did with me. Today is day five of this year’ journey to northern Italy with a couple of days on either end in Zürich.  Travel stress reveals our hearts, laying bare who we really are. 

Mike daily focuses on safely maneuvering the rental car, a Czech Skoda, as we listen to Italian directions and watch the Apple Car Play map display and verify with the road signs. That plus narrow one-lane streets that squeeze past ancient stone houses. I’m trying to be ‘helpful’.  It doesn’t take much effort to picture what our conversations are like.  

This afternoon, having parked the car for the night and after some unnecessary words from me about driving, we changed clothes and hiked up to a chapel on a hill.  As the church bells pealed, informing the valley that it was 4 pm, we slid into another verbal ‘splat’.  Mike turned around and sharply asked, “Why are you acting like this?  I was actually agreeing with you! Why do you feel you have to explain things to me?”  

Stunned into silence, I couldn’t account for my words either. Suddenly, I recognized what this is: spiritual attack!  I blurted out, “Mike, Satan is trying to mess with us. God has been so good to us. He’s brought us to a beautiful place and we’re hissing at each other. Please, pray.”  He recognized what and who was behind the day’s conflicts and asked me to pray to the Lord.  I did, pleading for Jesus to restore our union with Him and each other. Then we asked each other’s forgiveness.  And it was done. Peace restored.

Our good Father called us into marriage 45 years ago because He knew we’d rub each other in many unhealthy ways. Gradually, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s oil of peace, God is sanding us down, smoothing out the sharp and rough edges. Creating something beautiful out of each of us, I pray.

God keeps working, especially on vacations.  

Actual strength that changes life

August 23, 2024

Maria God's Peace, Holy Spirit, Judges 7, Psalm 23, Spiritual Warfare , , , , 2 Comments

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul (NIV)……He revives my life (ISV)…He renews my strength (NLT)….He refreshes my soul (LSV)

I was on the elliptical cardio machine at Orange Theory Fitness this morning.  I never ‘feel’ energetic when I hop on.  But after 5-6 minutes, strength seems to arrive.  I don’t actually feel it, but I notice that I can go faster and steeper than when I started.  This has gotten me thinking about the strength that God infuses into our souls.

Last week, when I felt attacked by obsessive, unrelenting thoughts for a good 24 hours, it didn’t occur to me that spiritual forces of darkness were behind this.  But when Mike prayed for me, immediately followed by my reading pastor Scotty Smith’s words about spiritual warfare, the attack melted away.

That quick insight or clarity, something I already knew but Satan had blinded for a spell, changed my mood entirely.

Just as going to the gym and eating good quality protein provide energy and strength, God’s truth sources our power. But it’s not something we feel come into us or reside inside of us. In the spiritual realm, the Holy Spirit enables us to live out of a different perspective, God’s knowledge of reality.

This week I’m reading through Judges.  In chapter 7, Gideon has been prompted to free his people from the Midianites.  Knowing that this young man doesn’t FEEL capable, God goes out of his way to meet Gideon in his fear and weakness:

That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But, if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So, he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp. Judges 7:10-11 Berean Standard Bible

What made a difference to Gideon? An unimaginable conversation, a bit of new information transformed the outlook of this ‘least of the least’.  Now he was mentally and emotionally prepared to trust God and follow his plan, however strange it sounded.

What our mind believes affects our strength.  And God’s word delivered by his Spirit is transformative. 

Just before his departure heavenward the resurrected Jesus told his followers: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 NLT

We all know about Peter’s courage and the effect of his bold preaching after the Spirit visited them. I think Peter and the rest believed Jesus with a new assurance of the truth. It was holy-spirit-infused new information. Not the news alone, not the Holy Spirit without any content.  Both together.

If you are a born-from-above believer, then you too have the Holy Spirit in you. And he is able to transform truth into power that you don’t physically feel. But believing you can do what God says is enough.

The parallels between working out, eating healthy and God’s amazing news of reality fascinate me in how they transform ‘mere’ words or energy expenditure or food intake into a powerful force that I can’t actually FEEL.  But I see the results, the outcome.   

So it was with my immediate change in mood and outlook last week. That incident renewed my trust in the Lord.  If he can act THAT fast in such a significant way, dispatching the obsessively fearful and negative thoughts, then I want to take him at his word ALL the time.

Do you believe in what is invisible?

April 18, 2024

Maria Belief, John 20, Prayer, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Unbelief , , , , , 1 Comment

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:29 NLT

Saturday, while walking along the greenway trail behind our house, I stopped to chat with a couple who own the breed of dog I would choose, were I ever to be a dog owner. (We are cat lovers!) This husband and wife exercise their pair of miniature Australian sheepdogs every day, throwing frisbees wide and far for them to chase. 

To control one of her dogs, the ‘mom’ carries a whistle that only dogs and other animals can pick up. It emits a soundwave at a frequency that humans can’t detect. Her disobedient dog doesn’t like it and immediately stops chasing the squirrel or other critter that tempt him to bound away.

I have to take this woman’s word that the whistle really produces a sound. I can’t hear it, but apparently it is reality.  Just like I can’t see other phenomena that truly exist. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t real.  I searched for another example to share with you.  

Apparently, photographers have found a way to capture the fluorescent radiance of flowers using a technique called UVIVF (ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence) photography. The naked eye can’t catch this intrinsic quality, but the photos I saw on line showed a beautiful glow around blossom.

Logically, if we take as a given the things in nature that we can’t detect with our human senses, then would it not follow that a God who is invisible to us could also exist? Especially, since there are eye-witness accounts?

I, as a believer, trust God and accept the scriptures as true. Yet, I still functionally act as an unbeliever in one major way.  Even though Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them always, I go about the majority of my day not talking to Jesus as though he were present. Which he is.

I’m like many of the clients I meet at our local choose life pregnancy center. A fair number identify themselves Christians. But they don’t accept that Jesus IS alive and present. Since they don’t feel him, or see him, it’s as though he isn’t here. And that makes it easy to ignore him.

I don’t want ever to ignore Jesus.  So, I make a point of talking out loud to him during my quiet time. I sit at the dining room table and address the Lord sitting across from me.  I chat with him, thanking him, praising him and committing my cares and those of others to him for the day. I also ask his opinion about things that are bothering me.

But sometimes that is the only time of day, I talk to him. I’m trying to change. But Satan seems to interpose little obstacles that hinder my engaging with the living Son of God. This morning, during my quiet time, I found myself putting off talking to him.

After reading and meditating on the passages for today, I wanted to move on and read a couple of devotionals, instead of praying first.  I said to myself, ‘I’ll read Oswald Chambers and John Piper to see what they have to say this morning. Then I’ll talk to Jesus.”  Clearly, I preferred reading what some men had to say about Jesus rather than hearing from the living Lord right there in my dining room.

By grace, I realized that I was stalling, and with the Lord present!  That felt embarrassing. What could be more important than being together, face to face with our Father, our Brother and the Holy Spirit, the triune almighty and holy God?

If you’re like me, then we need to accept as fact that we’ll encounter some kind of resistance, maybe even every day.  Proof positive, that Satan doesn’t want us relying on the presence of God, of talking to him and hearing from him.   Much ‘safer’ if we just discuss the Lord, as someone from the past. Even as we pay lip service to the reality of the living Jesus.

What can we do? Wearing a rubber band or bracelet on your wrist might be a tool, or setting a timer to ping every 30 minutes as a reminder. What I’m choosing to do is use my little old-school 4×6 spiral notebook. I look at it frequently throughout my day.  This morning I added another ‘to do’:

“Talk to you, Jesus, throughout the day.” 

Has how you pray changed over the years?

May 4, 2023

Maria John 17, Luke 11, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Warfare, The Lord's Prayer , , 2 Comments

“Lord, teach us to pray….” Luke 11:1 ESV

Today, 4 May 2023, is our country’s National Day of Prayer, a time to renew our practice of prayer and perhaps adjust it.

I can sense changes in how I now talk to God, especially in how I intercede for others.

Have you ever noticed how children pray?  They blurt out exactly what they want. “Jesus, give us a good day.” And rightly so. We must enter the kingdom with that same simple but cheery, trusting and care-free approach. Our Lord wants us to hand over every material and immaterial situation to him. But our Father also expects us to grow in our understanding and practice of praying.

For a while my care for God’s honor, for his name has increased. His expansive goals and perspective are slowly replacing my limited ones, or maybe amplifying them.

Remember how God planned to liberate Israel from Pharaoh as well as cause Egypt to know experientially that HE is Yahweh, the LORD? He had dual purposes.  And so can we.

This morning, I asked Jesus that the four men in my immediate family would honor God in how they pray for their wives. That he would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in their work. As well as draw them deeper into intimacy with our Father. Then reading Oswald Chamber’s meditation for today, I felt resolve to pray more like this expand.

With razor-sharpness, Chambers diagnoses the limited ways we intercede for others. (May 4 meditation from My Utmost for His Highest)  “We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others…..we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies…..Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.”

So, where do you start if you want to mature in how you pray for others? You can’t go wrong by allowing ‘the Lord’s Prayer’ to shape and change your approach.  Think of it as a framework, a springboard for a personal and God-honoring way to intercede.

Focus first on God’s goals and purposes. If we are believers, then our primary goals, our ‘first concerns’ should be the Lord’s, such as the honoring of his name, kingdom expansion, and all his purposes to become reality.  Then we are invited to hand over what we need this day, personally as well as for others.  This is where we can mention the immediate situations and needs, such as Jim’s surgery or travel safety for Sally, or a peace-filled resolution to the war in Ukraine.

But, don’t you want to talk to practice talking with the Father like Jesus?  For inspiration and guidance, we can sink our teeth deep into John 17 and study how Jesus prayed and for what.  We can select one of his petitions for the day and model our prayers for others on that.

For sure all and any sincere conversation with the Lord is a GOOD and RIGHT thing. This is not a suggestion to leave one way behind and replace it with something new. It’s a both/and.

Who knows, maybe Jesus is calling you into a grand adventure.  Maybe this shift will cause you to look forward to praying for others with a greater sense of expectancy.

Beware, though, Satan will not be pleased. So, armor up each morning with all the spiritual defenses and the one offensive arm we are to use, God’s Word.  

Do you believe your thoughts?

April 20, 2023

Maria 2 Corinthians 10, Isaiah 55, Satan, Spiritual Warfare , , , , 3 Comments

We…….take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

Do you ‘vet’ your thoughts? That is, (per dictionary.com,) do you “appraise, verify, or check for accuracy, authenticity, suitability’ every idea or notion that flits across you mind?

I haven’t, up until now!  For decades I have simply lived with my thoughts or tried to distract myself from thinking.

Out of curiosity I checked to see if anyone had studied just how many thoughts the average person entertains in a day.  One report I found mentioned 6,000 as the mean.  Okay….so?  Well, up until recently, I would have concluded that this research is merely trivial.  For I’ve never viewed my thoughts as more than somewhat interesting perhaps, or mostly banal, but certainly harmless.  But is that true?  Paul would disagree.

In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul brings up the concept of war when he reminds them and us to avoid living according to worldly standards. With that startling introduction of something totally unexpected, the apostle then exhorts them (and again, us) to evaluate our thoughts in terms of life and death, hence the warfare context.

Picture a stranger hanging around a castle’s perimeter, or maybe even walking alone inside the wall. Wouldn’t soldiers grab and interrogate him? Wouldn’t they determine his intention?  For all they know, he could be a spy for the enemy, maybe even a sleeper agent masquerading as one of them. Taking this dude captive and interrogating him would be initial steps before deciding what to do with him. Depending on what they learn, they would decide their next course of action:  execute, imprison, enslave, release or absorb him into that kingdom’s army.

Likewise, I am slowly realizing that I can actually STOP and examine my thoughts.  I must pause long enough to capture them to evaluate whether they align with the cause of our King.

The enemy is expert in disinformation and deception. Let’s call it for what it is. Satan and all his army of foul spirits are skilled in lying. Think of his conversation with Eve.

The devil or serpent planted a piece of false intelligence, the ‘thought’ that God was holding back on them, that he was neither really good or loving. You know the results. Satan learned how effective a bit of dis- or misinformation could be.

He has not changed how he operates since that first garden victory. Our deadly enemy’s ‘modus operandi’ is to do anything to cause us assume two facts:  that the ideas we receive come from us and that they are true.  But a lot of what we think about is NOT true and some of our conclusions have their source in the supreme Liar.  That is why we must stop and examine our thoughts, especially the ones that might trigger strong emotional reactions, whether fear, shame, anger, lust, envy or jealousy.  

Back to our castle image: picture feeling a bit uneasy as you notice a stranger around the fortified city of the king. As an observant watchman or armed guard (and we all are God’s combatants per Paul), you might feel a certain suspicion of danger.

How do I know this stranger, this ‘thought’, is a friendly or in reality a foe planning hostile action?  By grace, we have the King’s battle plan, plus the written history of warfare up to this day and best of all, open-door access to the Lord of the Castle. We can check with him any time.  It might look like this: “Jesus, is what I’m thinking actually true?  What do you think? What do you want me to know?”

The shift I want to make, the new practice I’m trying to implement is Paul’s way of living, based on what God declares about himself in Isaiah 55:8  …..my thoughts are not your thoughts….. (ESV). That implies that Maria’s thoughts are not always God’s thoughts.  Of course, we will never have access to ALL of the LORD’s thoughts. But we do have enough of them to recognize the source.

It’s going to take me a while to make pausing and asking Jesus more automatic. That’s true of any habit we want to form. But I am highly motivated. Each day, I believe more and more that we are in a battle for life with an enemy whose goal is to neutralize us or kill us, whichever works best for him.

More powerful than nuclear fission

April 6, 2023

Maria Fear, Freedom, Luke 4, Psalm 107, Spiritual Warfare , , Leave a comment

Imagine being employed at a nuclear power plant.

Maybe you serve in administration or prepare food in the employee cafeteria, or manage safety checks.  Whatever your role, I imagine you are hyper aware of the magnitude of power being produced, contained and directed in your work place.

But do you actually FEEL all that power as you walk about during your shift?  Most likely not, but you certainly believe it exists and respect it.

We, as believers, actually house a greater force than the sum of all nuclear power available to our world.  His name is God and he is in us through his spirit.

Some of us feel bothered that we don’t always FEEL or sense God’s presence or power with or within us. Maybe we read of experiences of some Bible characters and envy them. For my friends and family members who long to encounter God in that more tangible way, I plead with the Lord, that until they do, they may walk by faith, trusting in God’s love and stockpiled power and provision for them. 

Not hearing personally from God can feel dark and heavy.  Job certainly was a man who despaired ever of hearing from the God he trusted.

Do you know a fellow believer who moves in and out of this kind of shadowy fear, because of oppressing thoughts? Someone who struggles to REST in the God-given power received when God transferred OUT of the gloomy Kingdom of Isolating Fear and Shame and into the Kingdom of Light, Hope and Family Belonging?

Pastor Scotty Smith calls these places where some dwell ‘waterless pits of gloom’.

There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains….in misery…..Psalm 107:10 NASB 1995

But God be praised, Jesus came to set them and us FREE!

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, Luke 4:18 NLT

 Just as those in the nuclear power industry do not doubt but rather respect the energy at their disposal, so too WE should rest in the sure knowledge of God’s power available to us by faith through his spirit given to us.

Oh, dear friends, I pray that this Easter Sunday, all of us may feel the glory of a new kind of shade and light.  Not a heavy, gloomy oppressive shadow but a restful, refreshing shade and an energizing, restorative light.

Linger here in this place of acceptance and accept the invitation to fellowship with Jesus in his banquet house.

From Song of Solomon 2:3b-4, here are the lyrics for Bairstow’s choral peace that will feed your soul and heart.

 I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

YouTube link to one short rendition

Wasteful nighttime worry

June 30, 2022

Maria Proverbs 19, Spiritual Warfare, Trusting God, Worry Leave a comment

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV

The Lord had scheduled this verse in my reading this morning, for it hit home. 

I had lain in bed after ‘pee o’clock’ just thinking about various hypothetical scenarios.  You’d probably call it ‘worrying yourself sleepless!’ What kind of situations?

There’s my mother-in-law who grows weaker by the week.  She lives alone, but in a retirement community, about 2000 miles away from us. I foresee us making more frequent trips out to see and encourage her.

Another issue I spent time ‘planning for’ had to do with packing for an upcoming trip.  Then my worrying bordered on the ridiculous. Of all things, I started wondering just what I would do with my life if Mike died before me.  Yes, I know, all in the middle of the night.

I paid a price for giving into these anxiety projections – less sleep!

But it wasn’t a waste, for God redeemed it this morning by pointing out his truth, delivered by Solomon’s proverb.

How do those words help?  I’m choosing to draw a distinction between planning and preparing. Of the three topics that occupied my awake time, only one, Friday’s upcoming trip, involved an actual situation written on my calendar.  But as I had already written down some prep details during daylight hours, just what was the point in thinking about it at night?

But the other two scenarios, how Mom’s decline will play out and life as widow?????  I have NO business giving attention to them.  What prompted the latter worry, it can only have been Satan.  And about Mom, I was pondering her situation and our involvement only because she had been depressed that day when I zoomed with her.

Listening to her lamentations had led me to suggest two actions she could take the next day.  Other than that, for the time being, I can’t control her or supervise her to see that she actually puts into practice what I think will help her. I have to leave her in God’s hands and keep praying.

My imaginations, those speculative plans certainly won’t change God’s purposes.

Do you remember those ‘choose your own adventure’ books?  Here’s my application of that kind of authoring.  No matter how many possible ‘choose- your-own eventuality’ exist, until Mom’s story on Earth 1.0 ends, I know that God ‘has this all his hands’.  Furthermore, having experienced God’s creative solutions numerous times, I will not be surprised if how he has written the story is in a way I would never have imagined.

So, what’s the whole point in telling you all this?  Just that, in case you’re like me and occasionally fall prey to that temptation to lie awake worrying, maybe seeing the silliness in my preoccupations might help you see more clearly your own unholy imaginings. 

Let’s pray rather that we trust the Holy Spirit to give us supernatural power to resist the suggestion to start imagining an ending. God has got this!

When ‘my’ plans don’t work out

March 3, 2022

Maria 1 John 5, Faith, God's Sovereignty, Philippians 4, Spiritual Warfare, Worry , , , , Leave a comment

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7……(then) …. whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV

An alert from American Airlines interrupted my lunch last week as I was checking email.  Something to the effect that bad weather might disrupt our travel plans two days later, on the Friday. The airline offered to change our plans at no cost.

The possibility of weather problems had not crossed my mind.  Immediately Satan suggested all sorts of bad scenarios meant to distract me.  We were flying to Charlottesville, Virginia to care for grandkids so their parents could visit El Paso to look at houses.  This weather event would affect their flights as well.

Recognizing that I was beginning to fear the worst, I forced myself to go on the counter-attack. I reminded myself that:

  • The Lord has these trips already planned out.
  • He has stockpiled provisions we will need.
  • His plans are always best.

Satan stepped up the momentum.  But I strengthened my resolve, asking the Lord for supernatural help to fight back.  What came to mind was the promise that if I resist the devil’s suggestions about our future, he will flee. 

I kept up my trifecta of truth.  I declared out loud:  I can’t stop these lying images from entering my imagination, but I will immediately respond with what I know to be true. 

And so, I waged war.

I had to continue resisting Satan’s lying thoughts longer than I anticipated.  When we got to the airport last Friday, weather turned out not to be the problem.  But there were others.

The flight had a mechanical issue.  We deplaned and waited in line to consult with the gate agent about connecting flights. He booked us on a flight out of Charlotte, North Carolina for an airport 75 minutes away from our destination.  Presumably, we could Uber from there to Anne and Wes’ house. But by the time we landed in Charlotte, that flight had been cancelled.

By grace, we had already thought of renting a car in Charlotte.  Sure enough, that turned out to be Plan C. But would there be any rental cars available?  We kept praying.  Sure enough, the Lord’s stockpiled grace included a rental car that we could drop off at the Charlottesville airport the next day.

Knowing our delay, our son and daughter-in-law dropped off the children with a friend and headed to Washington, DC for their flight.  We picked up the kids 6 hours later than our original itinerary. Whew! Finally, we were in the house with the kids and their dog. But God’s grace did not end there.

Wes and Anne’s flight was delayed and they had to spend the night in Houston, Texas.  God’s stockpiled grace for them included a $400 credit with the airline. And Anne, who is 31 weeks pregnant, got to bed earlier than they had planned. They arrived in El Paso the next morning in time to meet the real estate agent. And saved one day’s worth of rental car expenses.

What did I learn?  Like a 2×4 to the head was the realization ‘What a waste of emotional energy, worrying about anything. The weather event evaporated.’

This experience showed me once more that victory over sinful fear and worry comes by means of exercising our trust in our good God who does all things well, though not always the way we would like.

John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote about this very scenario the four of us lived through : (and I paraphrase) ‘Our prevailing over Satan, the flesh and the world is a done deal. It is scripted that we conquer Satan and fear by means of taking God at his word and doing the next thing at hand.’

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4 ESV

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