Doubt, How It Creeps Right On In, & How To Make It Flee... a Five Minute Friday Post

So I had a super full (not busy... see how that shifts it just a little bit?) week but I managed to block out a little writing and Twitter Partying time on Thursday night to reconnect with the #fmfparty crew! As an introvert, some times Self Care looks like an empty house and a good book... but sometimes it looks like a laptop and my online tribe instead... (or after... because, you know! Both!)

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: DOUBT

{GO}

Here's the thing about Doubt:

He's persistent, right? 

Doubt whispers worry and shouts second guessing at the top of his lungs, in a shaky, panicked voice. He's always laying blame on anyone else and throwing accusations all over the place with reckless abandon.

And yet... he's not flashy.  

Oh no. He is cloaked in darkness and shrouded in fear and He sneaks right on in and cozies up close. Before you even know it, you're nodding your head in agreement and allowing your heart to entertain all kinds of questions and concerns.

It's been a tough few weeks, battling some unknowns and Oh My Goodness, if Doubt doesn't just keep trying to slip in under the radar.

For it is when he slithers in unnoticed that the real damage begins...

Doubt is tricky because before you know it, his thoughts start to sound and feel like your thoughts.  They can even start to sound and feel like wisdom and truth!

We have fought hard against him and we have kept watch over our words, our hearts, our hopes... 

In the natural, it seems as if we should be more of a mess. 

Honestly - I know it is thanks to so much prayer. But it is also this.  This verse that I stumbled upon a little while ago has been a lifeline and a floating device as I continue to try, again and again, to step out of the boat and walk on the water... 

This truth:

"But as for me,

the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Your works."

                                                        Psalm 73:28 NASB

Did you catch that? 

It's the 'nearness of God is my good' part that takes my breath away in all the best ways!

Because when Doubt barges in and worry and fear join the chorus, what I really need to remember is that when they are close... He is not.  But as soon as I (re)turn my attention to God, His nearness chases all impostors, all liars, all false-declarers away... and He sings over me with Love.

I may not know all the answers. (Read: I do NOT.) and I may not understand the whys and the hows and the when-Lord-Jesus's... But I know this...

The nearness of God is my good.

So I will cling to Him and call to Him as His Presence lifts me up to the surface once again so I can walk on the water with Him and Doubt, Fear, and Unbelief --they sink down deep, returning to where they belong.

{STOP}

When I find myself being weighed down with What If's and If Only's, I remember that God is the great I Am... He is my ever present help in times of trouble... ever. PRESENT.  Doubt and Fear are not based in present time.  They drag me back or push me forward, and always, always, they pull me down!

But the nearness of God causes them to flee. 

A bit earlier in that Psalm, it reads:       

"Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

When Doubt creeps in, I sing that Truth out loud!

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click here to read what others have to say about "DOUBT"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. 

We'd love to have you join us!