Wednesday, August 29, 2007

It Must Be Me...?

My husband loves to tell a joke about a couple who visit a new church for the first time....

They head into church and within minutes a man comes up to the husband and invites him to join the other guys in the church for a men's fellowship time after service. At the same time, a woman approaches the wife and invites her to the ladies fellowship. They both accept. After service they part ways and head off.
During the fellowship hour, none of the men come and sit with the husband, and none of the women come and sit with the wife. Once the gatherings were ending, they both headed back to the car. When they got there, the huband said, "Those guys are a bunch of jerks." The wife said in a tearful voice, "I don't know why they didn't like me?."

How true is this?! Two people in the exact same situation, but the woman makes it about her failings. Why do we women think that if there is a problem in the world, or we are treated in an ufair, or unkind manner, it's our fault? Why do we obsess over things in a way that makes us feel bad about ourselves?
I spoke with a friend today and told her that I was afraid I may have offended her when I saw her last week due to something I said without explanation. I have been thinking about this all week, but due to an outrageously busy schedule this week, I hadn't had the chance to call her. She had no idea what I could have said to offend her, and when I explained, she assured me that it had never even occured to her to have taken what I said the wrong way.
She did say however, 'you're just like me. I obsess over stuff like that too." Do we all do this?

I just recently received some news that, well, knocked the wind out of me you may say. Totally caught me off guard! I guess it isn't suprising that I am feeling a little depressed for the moment while the news sinks in - but why is it I now start having illogical thoughts? I know there is no logic behind my feelings (after all, feelings are not logical!!), but why am I feeling that I am to blame on this matter that is completely out of my control.
I tried talking to my husband about how I was feeling and he gave me a very important reminder... That little nagging voice, you know, the gloom and doom voice, is that of the Devil. His ugly voice springs up time and again planting lies in our head that we have a hard time ridding ourselves of. It's like when you hear a song from your childs show that then stays in your head for days driving you nuts - but you just can't shake it! "Rescue pack.. goin' on a rescue..." (no, I'm not saying this show or song is evil)
But we have a choice. We can allow the voice to continue to be trapped in our head and tearing us down, or we can ask God to cast it out. So what choice am I going to make? I am going to lay this problem down at my heavenly Father's feet knowing He is sufficient to handle this - and I'm not going to take it back. I'll ask Him to cast away the useless thoughts and give me the strength to do all that I need to in order to bring about the best possible results!!