Not to name names, but SOMEBODY (you know who you are) gave my boys light-up swords for Christmas. They also somehow acquired shields during the Christmas season as well. The boys love sword fighting and pretending to be Bible-Man. They go back and forth with the Swords of the Spirit, and just have a blast. Well, that is until it gets too loud, and good `ole mom tells her Bible-Men to put their swords away.

Yesterday I was cooking dinner, when my husband and son came waltzing into the kitchen in the middle of an epic sword battle. I just laughed it off and carried on making dinner. Then I heard my husband say, “Oh, you got me!” Of course, I turned around to look.

My son looked at me with a prideful smile… almost like a, “Hey, mom did you see that?” He took his eyes off his dad for just a split second… and the next thing you know… He’s pinned down to the ground while his dad holds both swords in his hands.

A split second… that’s all it took.

Have any of you ever done that? Have you been guilty of taking your eyes off God… even for a split second? Has life gotten so nice that you no longer felt that you needed God? Or maybe you honestly thought you were doing it for God, but you had selfish intentions.

I know I have. I was inspired to write books- Christian children’s books- to be exact. The words just flowed from my fingertips. Before I knew it, I had a series of books designed for girls. And within a matter of months, I had a series developed for boys too. Here I sat with all these manuscripts on my computer… useless right? Obviously, God wouldn’t want me to just leave them here. Do something about it. Right?

Well maybe. But something happened. In my quest to get these manuscripts off my computer and into the hands of readers, I lost sight of The One who inspired the whole thing. I started thinking about how cool it would be to see MY book on the bookshelves in the stores. I started thinking about people asking me for MY autograph on MY book.

See the problem… I took my eyes off God. For just a split second. But in the process, I was taught a very important lesson: Renee- it’s not about you. It’s all about HIM. Get your pride out of the picture! Wait. Worship while you wait. He began a good work in you, and he will see it out to completion.

Is this good work the book? No. The good work in the process of refining me. The process of growing me closer to Him.

He is faithful. I know if this is His will, it will happen. However, He knows best. It is my job to trust Him. My job to believe that He is good, and He will make all things work together for my good.

Maybe one day these manuscripts will be books. Maybe they won’t. Either way, I am so grateful for the lesson I have learned. Put that pride aside and keep your eyes on the goal- Life with HIM!

Spiritual warfare is real! The tactics of the enemy are so smooth. This example seems so simple. I had good intentions, but my motive was all wrong. The second I gave the enemy a foothold, I was spinning my wheels. I was suddenly anxious and tired. I was suddenly snippy with my husband and kids. I was no longer happy to wake up early and spend time with God. I would choose to sleep in or rush my time with Him. One of the best attributes that I love about God is that no matter how far I drift from Him, all I need to do is call out to Him and BOOM!!, faster than I lost sight of Him, He is right there.

Praise God that He has ways to call me back. Praise God for people in my life who are not afraid to say, “Um Renee I think you have to much of YOU in this project.” Praise God that even though I slip up time and time again, He always takes me right back.

When we take our eyes off God, we can easily fall victim to defeat! The enemy, he’s sneaky. But our God is bigger. Keep your eyes on Him. All it takes is a split second, and you can lose sight of the goal.

Psalm 16:8 (NIV)

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

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