“CERI IS YOUR COPING MECHANISM!”
That was the surprising comment from my brother, Kevin, in another one of our sacred conversations yesterday. Honestly, when I thought about it, I realized that I ran to Ceri’s messages in some of my worst moments, and God speaks clearly to me through him. Ceri has wonderfully pointed me to THE ULTIMATE COPING MECHANISM: GOD HIMSELF, BABY!!!
But speaking of one of my worst moments when I ran to Ceri, it was the day before yesterday when I felt so wretched that I had to stop everything I was doing and ask God, ‘What is wrong with me! Help me out here!’ God showed up in a recording that Ceri did over a year ago but spoke directly where I was STILL getting it seriously wrong: I look too much to my husband for his love and approval. Look what Ceri said to me in that awful moment:
“… now that God knows you, why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world… It’s so easy to become slaves to different things. You could become a slave to a lot of worldly things, but you also could become slaves to different emotions. You could become a slave to anger. Any little thing ticks you off. That means that anger controls you. If every time you feel down or depressed, you run to the bottle for a drink; you’re a slave to that because that is your master. It’s EVEN DOWN TO OTHER PEOPLE. IF YOU BECOME SO DEPENDENT ON ANOTHER PERSON’S OPINION FOR YOU TO SURVIVE OR FOR YOU TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, YOU HAVE NOW BECOME A SLAVE TO THEM (ME EXACTLY!!!!!) That isn’t how it’s supposed to be. The only thing you’re supposed to be a slave to is the word of God and His word. Nothing more and nothing less. Our faith is what we are always supposed to rely on. And that’s why he gave us this book (the Bible!), so whenever we need to run to something, we always have a reference point.”
And God didn’t stop there. The next morning, I asked Him what page to visit on our family’s website. I felt Him say page 22, and look what showed up, a post I wrote over three years about this very slavery issue:
“At one point, I was listening to Rob Bell’s podcast and his guest, Don Golden, talked about the slaves from Egypt being freed and how God is calling us ALL to be freed from anything that is holding us back from being the people He is calling us to be. I got so excited calling her back, saying we have to free ourselves from our personal mental slavery and start thinking the thoughts that God would have us thinking, not this JUNK we’ve been getting sad and depressed over. The words from Bob Marley’s song came to mind, “Free yourself from mental slavery.” After talking to her, I texted, “Google Bob Marley’s song. Wow, He is speaking directly to us.”
Minutes later, God reveals His intimate Presence with us. She walks past her nephew’s bedroom, and he is UNBELIEVABLY playing this very Bob Marley song, “EMANCIPATE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY.”
That conversation with Kevin’s wife, Verona, from so long ago, confirming Ceri’s message from God that I needed to free myself from being a slave to my wonderful hubby, was God Himself coming to wrap His loving arms around me and correcting me (God is so patient with us!!!). My decision to constantly seek hubby’s love and approval made me his slave. My choices should come from a place of , ‘God, what would please You here!’ And trust me, when we live from that perspective of seeking to always please God, He exceeds our expectations in every aspect of our lives. I now understand this verse:
“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic (ME!!!!)—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.” – Matthew 13:44
For God, the Creator of the universe, to come down and speak so clearly to me through Ceri and that old post of where I’m going wrong, I feel like His favorite girl in the world! I jumped out of bed so happy! I found that treasure and what joy I have in knowing God’s deep, deep, deep love for me! Like God Himself said, “My Nik, why are you so troubled over whether your husband loves and approves of you! I love and approve of you!!!
That right there is the love, joy, and peace you cannot buy! What are you a slave to? Talk with God about what is holding you back from being all He is calling you to be.