The Joy of a Mechanical Pencil :)

A few weeks ago, I posted a Facebook status about "being the pencil".  That particular morning, God had showed me the connection between writing in pencil -- and forgiveness.   As I was writing in my journal, He showed me how life should be treated "like a pencil" -- with the ability to erase wounds from the past -- to turn the page to a more free and burdenless life.  I'm not talking about "burying" the past by trying to forget it or stuffing it... I'm talking about finding freedom from the past through the healing truth that only Jesus can provide -- it's called forgiveness.

The enemy tries to use 'ink' in our life -- trying to never let us forget the past or burying it so deep that it festers and causes more problems than that single event itself.  That morning, through a simple analogy, God revealed to me how much I needed to stop hanging on to the past, bringing up old wounds, throwing them in someone's face ("remember what you did to hurt me"), or throwing them into my own face (guilt and shame). But instead, to slowly heal those wounds by erasing their impact on my life AND moving forward with respect, honor and communication -- again, it's called forgiveness.

Yesterday, God showed me ANOTHER pencil analogy.  This past week had been tough.  I won't bore you with the details, but it was one of those weeks that I know everyone can relate to.  By Friday, I was D.O.N.E.  I could barely muster a smile, certainly couldn't be "engaging and supportive" in any conversation, and simply wanted to put that rotten week behind me by vegging on the couch and staring at the TV.  Blah!  I hate feeling that way.  I knew that the enemy had gotten the upper hand and was having a party in my head with lies and I was too exhausted to focus long enough on God's truth about me to win the battle.  I felt defeated, rejected, and worn.  WORN TO A NUB.  You know, one of those tiny little pencils that has been sharpened so many times that you can barely write with it. 
I'm sure you can relate...how after what feels like a continual battle from all sides -- the needs of others, the drama created unnecessarily by the world around us, the lies we've been believing and the yokes we have placed around our own necks -- eventually it just wears us down.

So, to sum this up, I've decided to change my initial analogy  -- the key in life is to "be the MECHANICAL pencil".  It really makes sense. The awesome thing about God is that He is always right there, waiting to fill you up... with His love, grace, mercy, tenderness, compassion... what ever you need.  Whenever you start to run low on "lead", you just turn to Him and BAM.... more life, more freedom, more strength to face the battles, more courage, more love... MORE OF WHATEVER YOU NEED!  No need to worry about the world wearing you to that place where all you feel is small and worthless, but instead you are a glorious, always ready to be filled, beautiful and perfect creation, that not only gets refilled by our amazing Creator, but you always have the ability to erase those feelings of rejection, unworthiness and fear with one swipe of His Almighty grace, mercy, peace, joy and love.  Who wouldn't want to be a mechanical pencil, I ask you? :)