Energy Zappers

 

Are you captivated by watching hummingbirds? I certainly am! They are the cutest little birds that zip around so fast it’s hard to actually see them until they are on a resting spot. I hang feeders for them every year because I find them very entertaining to observe. They love my feeders and they also love all the flowers that I have blooming all summer. I see them sipping out of petunias, geraniums and the like. Not only are they cute and fast, they have very interesting behaviors. The nectar in the feeder is a prized treat worthy of defending. Even though each feeder has multiple drinking spots, they struggle to share. Each bird only gets a few sips before it is chased away by a competitor. I often just shake my head at their actions. They unnecessarily spend so much energy fighting each other. My Enneagram 9 brain thinks, “why can’t they all just get along? There is plenty of food to go around, just stop fighting each other!” Then my practical brain responds, “that’s how God made them. It’s survival of the fittest.” 

So, what is the spiritual application with observing hummingbirds? Push your way through life to get what you can get? Prove your dominance? Uh, no! I don't see that in the Bible anywhere. 

How about if we consider what we are wasting our energy on? I don’t want to be like the hummingbird that spends all my energy defending my territory and keeping away competitors. I believe there is no competition in the Kingdom of God. We each have a job to do with equal importance. I don't want to entertain thoughts of jealousy, comparison or feeling threatened by someone else's successes. I also don’t want to spend my energy and brain space on hurts, resentment and unforgiveness towards others. All of these things are energy zappers, and I don’t want to participate with them. These unhealthy internal dialogues drain us emotionally, because we are fighting a battle that doesn't need to be fought- just like the hummingbird. We can so easily fall prey to energy zappers and be totally unaware of what is happening and how it is impacting us. 

What I do want to spend my energy on is love, unity and blessing. I want to be the person that builds up, champions, blesses and protects. I want my friends and family to know that I have their backs and I will be there for them in any hardship they may go through. I want them to know that I will joyfully celebrate their successes. 

As we analyze the behaviors of the hummingbird it reveals some truths to us that we can pay attention to. Showing dominance, superiority, proving our strength and intelligence isn't always productive. Let's be cognizant of these things the next time we have a conflict, disagreement, online discussion etc. and lean into harmony, unity and respect. In the Kingdom of God, there's plenty of room at the feeder for all of us.

 

 

Jesus Knew Who He Was. Do You Know Who You Are?

I had the privilege to speak to a group of young adults last weekend on understanding the ways of Jesus. The one point that I really wanted to get across was that Jesus knew He was the son of God and He carried himself with authority because of knowing that. 

When you are convinced of something, you behave differently. Have you ever thought about that? All of Jesus' behaviors pointed towards having authority. He spoke with authority and He prayed with authority. He healed the sick and cast out demons with authority, and astonishingly, He has given that authority to us as well.

Matt 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

When I was parenting young kids, I knew that I had the authority
to tell them to make their beds and eat their vegetables. I fully understood that I was their parent.

Carrying the authority that Jesus has given us, gives us the right to tell the enemy what to do and where to go. Our prayers are effective and they avail much and our declarations usher in the power of God.

That’s why Satan so badly wants to distort our identity, so that we don’t pray and speak and move with authority. He has been working overtime in this department the last few years! If we’re too busy being self-focused, confused and feeling defeated, then Satan has us right where he wants us.

If you don’t exercise your authority as a child of the King, you are no threat to the enemy. That is why the enemy‘s biggest weapon against you is to confuse you about who you are. He wants to deceive you into thinking that your prayers don’t make a difference.

Your identity actually drives your actions. If you don’t see yourself as God sees you, you will never carry out the assignment he has for you to do.

When you are rock solid in your identity, then Satan has something to fear. When you become more and more convinced that you are a person with great purpose, then you won’t listen to the lies of the enemy telling you that you are unworthy and that you are not enough. 

You can remind Him that you are a child of God and an Heir of God. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. You are royalty!

Jesus knew who he was. He was about his Father’s business. He prayed with authority, because he knew he was the son of God. He came to defeat the works of the enemy. And the astounding thing is, in the word it says that we will do greater things.

John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

So Jesus knew who he was, and if we follow the ways of Jesus, and understand the ways of Jesus, we will know who we are as well.

 

 

 

I’m bored, I’m sad, I feel insignificant

                                                                                                                                                                

Before 

  After

November and December of 2023 I found myself without a lot on my schedule except for the usual Holiday things. I had been sick with a few different viruses that had me housebound on and off and a cough that lingered for weeks. I had to cancel some plans because of this and I was feeling a bit off kilter emotionally as well. To add to this, we had an unexpected loss in our extended family and doing the normal decorating for Christmas didn’t hold the usual enthusiasm.

I felt like I needed to take advantage of the time that I had at home so I charged into a home improvement project. Our house is 20 years old and I felt it was time for a new look in my half bath. I had been contemplating redoing our first floor half bath for many months. Ample time is available for such contemplating in this room, if you know what I mean. When we built the house I absolutely loved this room. I painted it purple, which is my favorite color, and it had lots of feminine, flowery items which offset the overabundance of testosterone in my all-boy home.

So, I dove head first into this project. I kept telling myself, “This shouldn’t take too long. It’s a small room. I can do this myself. After all, paying someone to do something that you can do yourself is just not the Hurst way of doing things. Getting busy will help me emotionally, won’t it?”

Initially when I struggled to remove the wallpaper border, I kept telling myself, “It’s going to be ok. You can do this, Mim. You have wanted this change for so long. Don’t get frustrated.”

Well, about half way into the redo my thoughts quickly shifted to, “What was I thinking? Why did I think this would make me feel better, more productive, more satisfied? All it did was make me cough more and make me more aware of my age and lack of flexibility to be on the floor, reaching for those unattainable corners that my short, tired arms can’t reach.” And,  “A half bath is the worst. All it is, is cutting in around all the STUFF!! And who paints a bathroom purple? Didn’t they know it would take 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint to get rid of it?”

I eventually got the job done and in spite of my sometimes unhealthy attitude I was able to spend a lot of time in prayer for the family that lost their 26 year old son. I listened to numerous podcasts and had plenty of time for processing and analyzing my motivations for jumping into this redecorating project. Did I really need a project when my body was trying to heal? Did this contribute to my self-worth? Did it provide me with a distraction from grieving? Probably no to all of these questions.

Now that it is all finished I’m actually quite happy with the result, but it caused me to think about my motivations and the “why” behind what propels me forward. It reaffirmed the fact that nothing external will fill a void in my heart that only God can fill. No task can make me feel more significant; only that which affirms who I am in Christ is of value. Listening to my body and allowing time to heal is a gift to embrace, not something to overcome. Productivity can be measured by how well I take care of myself vs how much I accomplish. Finally and most importantly, I am learning to develop a mind shift to retrain my brain to believe that time with God while reading, resting in His presence, and meditation is in fact ‘taking advantage of the time’.