Friend Or Foe?

Psalm 139:22(MSG)
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.  Your enemies are my enemies!


Some kind of northern mountain snake that I
 encountered on a hike...enemy of not?







Yesterday we had our first meeting of the "NOG"gin's.  This is the name that I've chosen to call our group.  I am doing a Bible study called, "No Other God's" by Kelly Minter.  The ladies and I are meeting every two weeks throughout the summer to go over our renderings and put our "heads together" for practical application.....hence the word "Noggin's". Get it?  Heads...noggins?  You better be laughing right now...

Anyway, here's what's been happening in this mind (and heart) of mine lately.  I spent most of the day Friday working with my "Southwestern Sister".  She has been assisting me with my organization on this computer.  You see.....I love to take pictures.  Anything or anyone will do.  Nature, people, weather, inanimate objects....you get the idea.  The reason I love photography so much is because it seems as though you can stop a moment in time.  Expressions and emotions captured and frozen for life on a little sheet of paper are fantabulous (not in the dictionary) to me!!  The only down side to this hobby is that it can fill up your computer really fast if you don't have a plan for storing all of these amazing shots.  Adding to that problem is my apparent inability to clear out the "clutter pictures" and other useless documents that have found their way onto my lap top.  I just keep adding more and more photos and never remove unwanted trash, all the while keeping an eye on my space as it fills dangerously close to capacity....hence the need for my sister's computer expertise! 

Cue...the slowing down of the computer.  I knew it was coming...you know the dreaded  "computer crash".  I should have heeded the warning signs.  Slower search times, longer transition to get from spot to spot after writing...you know them all.  But, I ignored every one of them.  I thought I would deal with it later....until, that is, I went to turn the computer on the other day....and I got nothing!  Absolutely nothing!  

I went straight to my computer source....my husband of course....and he said, "It looks like it's not getting any power."  I said in my most whiny voice, "But it's plugged in!!"  (See, I do know something about these little boxes.)  He said in his gravest of voices, "It's bad then...".  Uggghhhh....Not now!  What does "bad" mean anyway?  Does it mean that I have lost all of my pictures?!!  (Heart rate going up...sweat beginning to form on brow, as I envision all of those captured moments slipping from my grasp.)  Does that mean a new computer?  What?! 

I frantically started following the cord from the wall to the computer.  Connected tightly to the wall~check.  Securely inserted into the computer~check.  But, wait, isn't there a connection to the big black box "thingy" in the middle of the thick black strand that is shoved back behind my desk?  Could that be loose?  I began wildly pulling the cord up from the dark recesses of the wall.  There it was.  Nearly holding my breath I pulled it up for closer inspection.  Was it firmly secured into the box?  No!  It was loose!  It appeared to be half in and half out.  I shoved it in tight and ....tadah....presto....power!!  Yay!

What in the world does this have to do with today's verse you ask?  Here's what I'm thinking.  As I have been reflecting on the Word of God through this study, I have been reminded  that anything/anyone that steals my focus from God has the potential to become an idol in my life.  I need to guard against that.  Just like the power to my computer, if I'm not plugged in securely to Him, I will be useless to fulfill the plan that He has for my life!    Equally important, I must have room on my hard drive...errr.....I mean room in my heart for the important pictures....I mean important words from God.  I have to clear out the clutter from my spiritual life and view these "other God's" as "enemies"!  If they have the power to capture my attention more than my God, and if they crowd my heart and make it sluggish towards Him, then I don't want any part of those things.  Instead, I want to be clearly focused on God's grace and His direction on a moment by moment basis each day that I climb out of bed.

Praying today for an increased awareness of those "enemies" that attempt to steal my time and attention from God and the purposes that He has for me.