{"id":384,"date":"2018-07-18T18:26:09","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T18:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=384"},"modified":"2019-12-10T08:43:56","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T13:43:56","slug":"the-enemy-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2018\/07\/18\/the-enemy-within\/","title":{"rendered":"The Enemy Within"},"content":{"rendered":"

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”\u00a0 Matthew 5:44<\/strong><\/em>
\nWe all know we are to pray for our enemies, but have you ever thought the enemy you should be praying for is you?
\nI’m reading a fascinating book titled “Boundaries for Your Soul”<\/em> by Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller.\u00a0 \u00a0It focus’s on the battle we fight from within ourselves.\u00a0 Our anxieties and overwhelming thoughts which have the power to paralyze us.\u00a0 Immobilizing us from living our lives to the fullest, which is what Jesus wants for us. (John 10:10)
\nI started reading the book because of it’s subtitle; “How to Turn Your Overwhelming Thoughts and Feelings into Your Greatest Allies”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Who doesn’t want that?\u00a0 My thoughts can drive me crazy.\u00a0 Controlling them can be nothing short of miraculous sometimes.\u00a0 I was actually battling separation anxiety.\u00a0 I was looking for solutions.
\nI’ve found so many insights already and I’m only half way through.\u00a0 The biggest of which is learning to love the parts of me which are not my favorite.\u00a0 For instance my anxiety.\u00a0 The book helps you identify what is causing the unwanted emotion and learn to befriend it.\u00a0 It makes me think of this quote from Abraham Lincoln:
\n“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”<\/em>
\nIt really is a revolutionizing thought if we apply it to the parts of ourselves we’re least fond.\u00a0 I’m aware my separation anxiety began when my father died when I was a teenager.\u00a0 I learned early what it is to lose someone who plays such a pivotal role in your life.\u00a0 As a result, I spent much of my 20’s pushing people away because I didn’t want to go through pain like it again.
\nInevitably I learned, no matter how hard I try, I can’t live without people.\u00a0 We are designed to live in community.\u00a0 We are designed to love each other.\u00a0 We are designed to suffer loss.\u00a0 It’s all a part of life.
\nHow do I befriend my anxiety?\u00a0 By praying for it.\u00a0 By learning to accept, no matter what I do it is always going to be a part of me.\u00a0 By understanding it does serve a purpose.\u00a0 It isn’t the enemy.\u00a0 It’s my mind helping me to cope with loss.
\nAs I’ve grown older and encountered more loss, the anxiety has stayed with me.\u00a0 In February, when I lost a dear friend far too soon it reared it’s ugly head once again.\u00a0 I have befriended it though.\u00a0 It has helped me understand the meaning of this verse:
\n“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”\u00a0 Romans 12:18<\/em><\/strong>
\nNone of us know how many days God will give us.\u00a0 We don’t know how many days we’ll have with the people we love.\u00a0 My anxiety helps me remember those two truths. It has helped me realize it is important to live at peace with everyone to the best of my ability, because I don’t know how long I will get to love them.
\nI love this quote I read on Facebook the other day.\u00a0 Not sure where it originated, but it went something like this:
\n“Love the people God gives you well for you don’t know when He’ll need them back.”<\/em>
\nMy anxiety helps me live in the moment.\u00a0 It reminds me all I have is here and now.\u00a0 It gets me up at 5:00 in the morning to make lunch for my husband when he has a long day at work.\u00a0 It makes me hug my brothers when I see them.\u00a0 It helps me tell people I love them easier.\u00a0 It makes me write the note, send the text, make the call.
\nMy anxiety helps me love better in the here and now.\u00a0 I have learned to accept it will always be a part of my life.\u00a0 I am beginning to appreciate how it adds to my life.\u00a0 How it gives me the 20 seconds of courage I need sometimes to show someone I care.\u00a0 To open up my arms and hug.\u00a0 To lift the corners of my mouth and smile.\u00a0 To live.
\nI started praying for my enemy.\u00a0 It turned out the enemy was me.
\n 
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\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”\u00a0 Matthew 5:44 We all know we are to pray for our enemies, but have you ever thought the enemy you should be praying for is you? I’m reading a fascinating book titled “Boundaries for Your Soul” by Alison Cook and Kimberly… Continue reading The Enemy Within<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1541,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}