This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Enough: A Journey to Contentment Through Psalm 23.

It is easy to become swarmed and overwhelmed by the lies of our Enemy and the annoying habits and choices of those around us. As I see others succeeding, the lies of being less than and forgotten by God nip at my mind and soul, and I believe I am unwanted and unloved. When I wake in the middle of the night, it is even more difficult. Surrounded by the dark with nothing to distract my mind, it spirals out of control, down rabbit holes, like Alice in Wonderland, of past hurts, betrayals and imagined slights from people I care about or admire. Feelings of loneliness and hopelessness drain me of the strength to go on.

Recently, I experienced this. Feeling tired, I felt a sense of emptiness, abandonment and hopelessness, and I wondered if I should chuck it all in and give up. Maybe I had heard God wrong? Others were doing so much better than I was and seemed more popular and loved than I was. Feeling like this often reminds me of a song we sang as kids, which resonated with me.

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I’m going to the garden to eat some worms.

Big fat juicy ones, long thin slimy ones, itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny worms.

Childish, foolish, but like those worms, the lie slides into our minds and hearts so easily.

“I’m tired of living this way,” I cried out to the Lord. And do you know what he said?

“Then don’t! You get to choose. You either allow the Enemy to bite, nip and suck your life away, or you choose to live victoriously.”

I have a choice, as a daughter of the King and co-heir with Jesus, who sits victoriously at the right hand of God because He paid the price on the cross and won the battle over death and Satan. Our enemy has no power over us, unless we drop our defences, take our eyes off Christ, and live with a victim mentality.

We choose this by pouring the oil of His Word, His promises, and His truth over our heads, submerging ourselves and soaking it in every single day. I want my first thought to be of the Lord and His love for me, and mine for Him. To seek His face and His will for my day, inviting Him to be part of it. At night, I want Him to be my last thought, thanking Him for His power, protection and provision for another day.

I hope you were encouraged by this sneak peek.

Be well!

Patricia