(Below are Nicole's thoughts on Chapter 17, "Someone do it for me; I don't want to take responsibility", Wilderness Mentality #2, from Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter as well. Feel free to leave a comment, question and/or scripture in the comment section below this post. Let's dig deep and join together to fight this battle.)
And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together to go from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. -Genesis 11:31
...For many are called, but few chosen. -Matthew 20:16
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. -1 Peter 5:6,7
As Jessica mentioned last week, Joyce Meyer uses the next section of the book to teach us how to overcome the ten "wilderness mentalities" that the Israelites had that kept them from reaching the Promise Land. Last week, Jessica talked about Wilderness Mentality #1: My future is determined by my past and present. We also learned to use our "spiritual eyes and ears".
This week's Wilderness Mentality is...Someone do it for me; I don't want to take the responsibility.
I do have to preface this post with something that happened this morning. Tuesdays are the days that we use to write our posts on Spectrum Spirit. As I was drinking my coffee this morning, I started thinking about everything I have to do today. I have a meeting with a case worker for my son. I want to go through old toys that I hung on to in hopes that one day my son would want to play with them. He's now too old for them so I'm participating in a consignment sale this week which takes a lot of work. I'm puppysitting a friend's new puppy while they go on vacation. Let's not forget homeschooling, housework, and of course doing this week's post on Spectrum Spirit. That's a lot of things to do in one day! The first thing I did to ease the stress on my day was I decided to wait to do this post. I emailed Jessica and Chrissy to let them know I wouldn't get to the post until tomorrow. There, now my load is lighter. Right? Wrong...God got a hold of my heart very quickly. As I was finishing my coffee, I decided to pick up Battlefield of the Mind and read Chapter 17. Wow did God speak to me quickly. He showed me how I was trying to put off the one thing He needed me to do today. How I was trying to avoid my responsibility. I quickly prayed and asked God for His forgiveness. I devoured Chapter 17 and motivation has now taken over me. It's amazing how I still have the same work load today but after spending the time I needed to with God, I now have my responsibilities in the right order for today!
So, here we go....here are the main thoughts by Joyce that touched me the most in Chapter 17:
* To be responsible is to respond to the opportunities that God has placed in front of us. (p. 199)
* It is fairly easy to be excited when God first speaks to us and gives us an opportunity to do something. But, like Terah (Genesis 11:31), many times we never finish what we start because we get into it and realize there is more involved than goosebumps and excitement. (p. 199)
* ....the Israelites did not want to take responsibility for anything. Moses did their praying; he sought God for them, he even did their repenting when they got themselves in trouble. Exodus 32:1-14 (p. 200)
* We must live our lives before God, knowing that He sees all and that our reward will come from Him if we persist in doing what He has asked us to do. (p. 201)
* ...a lot of people have wishbone but no backbone. People with a "wilderness mentality" want to have everything and do nothing. (p. 201)
* You and I will never have the privilege of standing and ministering under God's anointing if we are not willing to take our responsibility seriously. (p. 202)
* When the Lord asks His people to do something, there is a temptation to wait for "a convenient season". Acts 24:25 There is always the tendency to hold back until it won't cost anything or be so difficult. (p. 203)
* If we do not use the gifts and talents that He has given us, then we are not being responsible over what He has entrusted to us. (p. 203)
* I encourage you to respond to the ability that God has placed in you by doing all that you can with it, so that when the Master returns, you can not only give Him what He has given you, but more besides. (p. 204)
* Set your mind to do what is in front of you and not to run from anything just because it looks challenging. (p. 205)
* Always remember that if God gives you whatever you ask Him for, there is a responsibility that goes along with the blessing. (p. 205)
I want to stop and really talk about the last thought that Joyce has shared with us. Always remember that if God gives you whatever you ask Him for, there is a responsibility that goes along with the blessing. It's so easy for us to pray and ask God for what we want most in life. We want our child to be healed from autism. We want them to live their life to the fullest. We want everything for our children, which is only natural. All parents do. To me, parents with children with autism want it more. However, are we taking up our responsibility that goes along with this blessing? Are we doing God needs us to do? Are we making sure that other moms, therapist, friends, even our spouses know Christ and the difference He's made in our lives? Do we take our responsibility seriously of reaching out to other moms who have children on the spectrum? The moms who are lost, have no hope and don't know where to turn. Or are we hoping the next person will do it because it seems so difficult? Let me ask you this...what if there is no one else that can reach that person besides you? What if that is your big moment in this life for Christ? We can be so much like the Israelites it is scary. We can turn something into a long hard journey when it could have only taken a short amount of time. I believe that we all have many different responsibilities in this journey of autism. As parents, we are the glue that is holding it all together for our kids. We research, we talk to other parents to get new ideas on therapies, biomedical treatments, teaching moments and more. How often are we taking the time to talk to other parents about God and how He is the glue that is holding us together?
It's time for us all to be honest with ourselves and see how we can be very similar to the Israelites and hide from our responsibilities that God has given to us.
Joyce writes on page 203...In meeting resistance you will build your strength. If you only do what is easy, you will always remain week. The easy thing for me to have done this morning is to procrastinate with writing this post and really feeling what God is placing in my heart. It's amazing how after reading Chapter 17 and writing this post, my day doesn't seem so overwhelming to me. I have the same amount of things to accomplish today. I just did the one thing that God needed me to do first and it's made me stronger.
So I ask you, what is God placing on heart to do after reading this post? I encourage you to read this post again, especially the Bible verses and the points from Joyce. I also encourage you to read more about the Israelites. You will find motivation to move forward in doing what God needs from you.
Dear Lord,
Thank you so much for motivating us all to pick up your Word and study it. Thank you for your Word and for guiding us through the tough times. I ask that you show each one of us our gifts and talents and what you need for us to do. Help us be more like Christ and less like the Israelites.
Amen
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