Insights from Mary

Mary the counselor, that is.

I started seeing Mary the counselor three weeks ago. She is a wonderful woman, clearly in love with the Lord and filled with the spirit. She wanted to help me fight my Lochness monster (see Lauren's blog for details) and was very encouraging. In this world where most people are pushing me to "be better" or "grow" or whatnot, she's building me up and encouraging me. She's like the cheerleader of my spiritual walk! It's awesome! I go there crying and beaten down and she reminds me of my identity, how the Lord works and how I am a child of the Light. I think everyone could use some counseling.

One thing she said was super cool, and I wanted to share it with you. I told her how I felt pressured to fix all the sin in my life at once, like everything surfaced at the same time and I was having trouble managing it all. I wanted to fix all the problems, but I was clearly overwhelmed.

She said, "Elizabeth, this is the way I think God works:

If there’s a basket full of all your stuff, your insecurities, weaknesses, lies and hardships, the Lord wants to address them. He will take one out and say, “Elizabeth, this is not okay. It’s not from me. We need to get rid of this,” And help you through it. That doesn’t mean the rest of the basket is true. It doesn’t mean you have to deal with the entire basket at once. It just means He is showing you something you need to deal with."

The devil works in chaos and lies, telling you that if one is true, all is true, and that you can’t be effective until it’s all gone. He will throw you in a whirlwind of hurt, trying to fool you into thinking that is the way to be healed. The Lord brings peace. He’s patient. The devil (and yourself) will bring confusion and lies and break you down. The Lord will fill what he has emptied."

And I thought that was neat and deserved to be shared. What's up in your basket?