Spiritual Warfare?

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of spending the evening in worship next to my dear friend Kami and a hall full of others at the Matthew West concert.

The night was opened by Mr. Talkbox. I hadn't heard of him, but once he mentioned that he toured with TobyMac for about five years, I recognized his sound. He put on a really hype opener.

Then, it was time for Colton Dixon to get on stage! I remember watching him on American Idol many moons ago.

Following Colton was the headliner Matthew West.

Neither of us had dinner prior to the show, so by time it was over we were both hungry. So we stopped for a Fourth Meal at Taco Bell on our way home. We sat in the lobby and just talked.

We both had such a wonderful night. We left feeling encouraged and uplifted. Kami even said it was exactly what she needed. I dropped her off and headed home.

Although I fell asleep pretty quickly, it was a pretty restless night of sleep. I think I dreamed all night and woke up several different times. By time I got up in the morning, I was not in a good mood. I was sleepy, cranky, and frankly felt like throwing in the towel. I no longer saw a point in waiting like I wholeheartedly believe I am supposed to. I felt like I should regain control of the wheel... Work came, which helped my mind get off these thoughts. By time I got off work, I was feeling in better spirits and headed to Kami's house for our weekly tradition of Monday night dinner.

I tell you all this because when I arrived at Kami's she told me about her day and how she was having a rough day as well. She said her mood was "rotten" and even her youngest at three could see the difference. We talked about how our attitudes could be so sour when we just had a wonderful night of worship and felt so uplifted not even hours ago...

Could it be that we were under spiritual warfare?

To be honest, this was always something I kind of rolled my eyes. I’m not exactly sure why, probably because I wasn't in a good place in my walk; however, being where I am now, I totally believe this. Especially after us both had the same kind of experience with our attitudes. Additionally, the Bible tells us of such struggle. Consider Ephesians 6:12:

 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV)

“For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.” (AMP)

*Disclaimer*

I am in no way, shape, or form trained in Biblical studies. These are my thoughts on matters in my life as I trek through life.

Simplistic

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."

Matthew 6:19-21 MSG

I have had this verse on my heart and mind for sometime now. I'm not exactly sure why - I haven't read it recently or anything. Maybe it has to do with my approaching mission trip (55 days!) to Haiti and simply thinking of how little they have there. I'm sure I will be impacted beyond words when I go, and maybe this is a way of God preparing me so I'm not in so much shock. I really don't know. All I know is that I keep returning to this verse.

Then, today, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across this blog post from Francesca Batistelli about wearing the same thing every day. As I was reading, I couldn't help but think it was yet another affirmation from God that this is where He is taking me. 

Francesca linked a post by Elite Daily in her blog that said talks about decision fatigue: 

"This is all related to the concept of decision fatigue. This is a real psychological condition in which a person's productivity suffers as a result of becoming mentally exhausted from making so many irrelevant decisions.

Simply put, by stressing over things like what to eat or wear every day, people become less efficient at work."

It also talked about making life simple:

"Indeed, having a diverse collection of clothing is overrated. We waste so much time worrying about things that have no substantial consequences, and don't even realize how easily we could change this.

The vast majority of us are guilty of obsessing over material things. When it comes down to it, they bring no real value to our lives. True fulfillment is acquired by going out into the world and fostering palpable and benevolent changes."

And furthermore, if we look to Scripture God has already told us this in Matthew 6:27-34 MSG:

 "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. 

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

I don't think He is just asking me to simplify in my clothing department but in all areas of my life. Prior to reading the blogs I had already started going through my closets, drawers, etc. and setting things aside that need to go; however, it is really hard for me to decide if I should get rid of X thing. I hate making decisions. Seriously, I am not a decisive person. So, maybe simplification is where I am supposed to go so that I can leave my decision making to the bigger and more important decisions that need to be made.