Pam Padgett ... teacher
Recently I was vividly reminded of how critical it is to deal correctly
with thoughts that come to our minds. Thoughts can seem very small and
insignificant. But
they greatly affect us, changing what we do and say.
I was attacked by the devil with thoughts telling me that I
cannot do the work of a teacher in the body of Christ. (I don't
remember the exact thoughts now.) When I turned to God with these
thoughts, I kept being reminded of Isaiah 41:10, and especially that God
would strengthen me ... Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
This attack seemed to come with no reason or provocation. But while
talking with Joan, I recalled that I had not dealt with a thought while
writing messages. That thought was telling me that what I wrote was
"too preachy". Later I also recalled other thoughts I had not dealt
with when writing messages ... "that's not important, so don't say it"
and "that's just rambling". Instead of taking these thoughts to God and
asking Him to show me His view of the matter, I followed these thoughts
and the messages became weak and ineffective.
And, by not dealing with these thoughts, I had opened the door to the devil to attack me and try to stop the
work altogether. The attack had not come "out of no where" as I initially thought.
By not taking these thoughts to God and getting established by Him, the
few words that came in the form of thoughts did much damage.
Thoughts seem as nothing, but they affect us, causing us to go one way or another. They lead us in the wrong way
if they are of the devil, or in the right way if they are of the Holy
Spirit. The only way we can tell which thoughts to follow is by turning
to God.