Today I'm thinking about Isaiah 59: 19 (NKJV):

When the enemy comes in
like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

Standard, in Hebrew, means truth. Truth.

I highlighted this verse in my Bible long ago. Twice. Once in yellow. And later, I drew a blue box around it. Thanks to (I mean this sincerely) some serious trials (and errors), it now lives and breathes in my heart and soul. It reminds me of the prophet, Ezekiel, who was instructed by God to ingest His words, because He needed to internalize them in order to walk in His will.

I recently joked with some girlfriends that I've spent the last eighteen months in a batting cage. And the fast balls keep coming. "Fast balls"--meaning, lies exposed. They just keep coming. So much so that I actually prayed, "God, you know that proclamation I made about seeking the whole truth, even if it's painful? Well, perhaps You could scale back a bit.  I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

And then He brought that scripture in Isaiah to mind. I must say, I live for these Father-daughter moments.  

"Never mind, God. If those fast balls are still coming at me with the velocity of a major league pitch, then I must trust it's for a reason and any minute, a holy wind of truth will rise up behind me and enable me to knock them out of the park. Forgive me, I had a moment of weakness. As Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own: "There's no crying in baseball!"

Disclaimer: I've cried a gazillion tears in the care of Christ and I needed to cry every one of them. But something shifted in my heart last week. (You can read about it under Divorce 101: A Storm Only Jesus Can Calm.) I'm entering a new season of healing. And I don't sense it will require tears shed through pain. (I'll be sure to let you know.)

Defeating the lies of the enemy requires so much more than highlighting Bible verses. We must identify the lies we're up against (verbal and/or implied) and defeat them with the whole truth. And that truth has more to do with the jagged pieces left in our own hearts long after the dust of betrayal has settled and the initial bleeding has ceased. 

I cant' say for sure, as I'm just entering into this new thing, but girls, I have a feeling this is the part where God empowers me knock those fast balls right outta the park.

Enough with metaphors. 

What season are you in?

Can't stop crying? Perhaps, too numb to start?

Full of rage?

In Dispair?

Hopeful, but frigtened by uncertainty?

I'll bet you have a scripture or two highlighted in your Bible that speak to the season you're in. I encourage you to mediate on them. And remain on the look out for how God allows opportunities for those verses to literally take root, rise up, and knock the crap out of Darkness.

Wanna pray?

Father in heaven, increase our capacity to see the truth when we'd rather look away. To hear the truth, when all we want to do is cover our ears and chant: "Lah, lah, lah . . ." To receive the truth in love rather than to close our hearts because our circumstances mock Where is your God? Increase our capacity to see You. Hear You. Receive You. And lastly, to embrace our true identity in Christ. Amen.

What is God saying to you today? Girl! Grab that journal! 

You are not alone,

Wendy