Thursday, January 9, 2014

Shut up, please

Yesterday I wrote about trusting God, letting Him take care of things. Trusting. Check it out here: Why I Don't Worry About Birds Anymore

Today I am linking up with the lovely #VoiceBloggers and Jo Ann Fore at: http://joannfore.com/unraveling-the-lies-we-tell-ourselves/


What happens when it is our own voice that hurts us most? How to we silence the inner bully, the inner critic, the fault-finding-keeping-track-of-how-you-fail record keeper?  This is where I struggle, and confess, do not prevail as often as I would like.

It is easier for me to speak up for someone else. To pray for someone else. To advocate for someone else. For me? Not so much.

I watched a TV show today, and part of the mystery was solved when they realized that on a video tape (yep old school tape!) there was a video ghost where the eraser heads did not fully record over an older event. So it showed up as a ghost. Not really there. Not really part of the current recording but still impacting it.

Those old voices that shout negative things at me, at us, are like those video ghosts. They are not really there.

THEY ARE NOT REALLY THERE!

Even our own voices, reading back to us our failures, are not really there. They are not current. They are not a part of the now we live in. They are a lie. And the devil loves to use them against us.

He would rather us be caught up in the past and hurting. Ineffective. Impotent. Not praying. Not living the gospel. 

He would rather we be worried about the old ghost soundtrack than hearing God speak to us in the now. In the people, and life, around us. In God's word.

Do these lies sound familiar? 

You aren't smart enough to read the Bible.

 God won't hear a sinner like you praying.

Get it together you pathetic loser, God doesn't want you.

You don't have a place in ministry, you were so bad/fat/wounded/homeless/scared/scarred before.

And the truth is you can read God's word. Anyone can!  And He is faithful and speaks to us. We are so blessed to have apps and Bible cases to carry The Word with us everywhere.

God sent His Son to save sinners like me. Like you. He loved us enough to leave heaven, to bear our burdens and DIE for us. He loved us enough to RISE again, washed clean of OUR sin, to open the door to heaven. 

God doesn't just want you. He desires you. He loves you. He seeks you. He truly knows every hair on your head, and crafted you in the womb. You are precious.

We all have a place in ministry. We all have a story to share. We survived. We can be a witness to those struggling on a similar path to ours. We can be a witness to those who would disparage anyone whom they think of as less than.

Don't forget, EVER, that you are beloved. Precious. Your voice has value. Your scars have value.

And on those days when we celebrate the small victories against the negative voices God celebrates with us. 

And on those days when they cause us to fight with our loved ones, when they cause us to be flooded with bitter, acrid memories, God comforts us. IF WE LET HIM.

I once asked someone why they disliked me my whole life. (I am not exaggerating). They didn't like how I looked at birth.  And that colored their entire view of me for almost 30 years of my life. And I tried to make them love me. I served them. I did my best. 

Mary was pregnant with Jesus. Herod was so afraid of the child he was willing to murder a whole town's worth of babies to kill one. He hated him before birth. He saw him as a threat.

We are in good company on this healing path. Jesus walked it before we did. He knows the negative voices (didn't the devil throw them back at him in the wilderness? Yep he did!). He knows the sound of disbelief from family and friends when we seek God's will in our lives. He walked that walk. He knows when we cry out to Him in our hurt. He hears us. 

I wanted to join in on the link up, and another one, this week. I was trying to write yesterday. Yesterday was not a good day for that. God knew better.  Today, however, was the day He wanted me to write.

Take heart dear souls, God is not only with us, but He has gone before us. He knows this path. Those voices. He knows, and in that knowing we can rest in Him. He can calm the voices, and fully erase the ghost videos in our mind.

We only need to let Him.

Are you willing? Can we pray together?

20 comments:

  1. Oh my GOSH, Shanyn - this is Beautiful!! So GOOD! Thank you for sharing this... <3 Love you, my friend!! ~Bobbi

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    1. Thank you so much Bobbi! You encourage and bless me! <3

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  2. Wonderfully written Shanyn, such beautiful truth!! thanks for linking up with us!

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    1. Thanks for coming by Sarah, and for hosting the link up!

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  3. Oh, Shanyn, I want to reach through the computer and hug you! You always bless me with your writing.

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    1. Hugs you Cheryl! I love your words, and your hugs!

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  4. What a beautiful and powerful word picture you just painted for us all! The video ghost..I remember that happening before, and yet how often the enemy would want us to believe that our past dictates our future. So glad for the Word that tells us otherwise. Loved these words..thank you for sharing them with such strength.

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    1. Thank you for coming by Victoria, and for being such an encouragement to me. Bless you!

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  5. You wrote... "We all have a place in ministry. We all have a story to share. We survived. We can be a witness to those struggling on a similar path to ours. We can be a witness to those who would disparage anyone whom they think of as less than."

    Brilliant. Beautiful. True.

    Great post, my friend!

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    1. Carey - thank you. For coming by. For sharing. For leaving your thoughts, and your love. You bless me.

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  6. So true. Are we long lost sisters? Well said. My inner critic was running WILD yesterday! Here's to pray together for it to shut up. For us to keep going despite what that evil voice tries to say. Thank you for sharing your heart and truth.

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    1. I think we are heart sisters Melinda! :-) Bless you for your words and I love ya!

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  7. Shanyn I love what you said about our old voices not really being there...this is a truth that will transform lives as we come to the understanding that ALL of our OLD is under the Blood of Jesus. It no longer exists and we are being deceived if we believe those lies.

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    1. Jeannie - AMEN. And you are so right. Glad you came by, you bless me!

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  8. Powerful. It is amazing to me, so many of the woman I admire and adore have that same obnoxious bully running through their head! It is baffling. And I so relate to the being able to do all of that for others but not for myself...working on that. Working on ministering to that wounded, neglected little girl within me, so that I might even still love well...grow in grace. Learning, when the little girl cries, what about me. Pick me, me, me...that sometimes, I need to come to her aid! Yes, deny the flesh, but for we who have struggled through abuse...the balance. Great post, Shanyn. You bless me. Love you, sista!

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    1. Dawn - you bless me sista! Thanks for coming by, and yes that wounded child still needs our love so she can be safe (and still!). Here's to encouraging other women to shut up that inner voice and shout with the one God wants them to be heard with!

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  9. loved your post, your words are real that brought me to specific moments in my life where i have felt those same painful thoughts about myself. so glad we have a God that redeems us.

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  10. Your wonderful title caught me! That bully-voice is so so tempting to believe isn't it? So glad that this post is hitting hearts, because it is an powerful message. Deb mentioned you in the latest 5MFF email and I am glad she did. You are lovely!
    Susie

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    1. Teresa - bless you! Thank you for being here, and yes I'm glad too that we are redeemed!

      Susie - nice to have you here, and an honour to be a part of 5MFF as well!

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  11. Great post and looking forward to working with you at 5 Minutes for Faith. One of my goals this year is to pay attention to my emotional health, and this is a big part of it.

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