Sometimes I feel as if I'm in the middle of a spiritual battle. I've been learning some lessons lately. Have some holes in the armour along the way as well, but I'm still standing and they say if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger.
Satan uses people and circumstances to discourage us, distract us, divert us, depress us, anger us, make us bitter, resentful, and generally take our eyes off of God and onto the situation or person at hand. These days I'm seeing his signature more and more clearly on the regular crisis' of my life which include my children's crisis' as well.
This current one is my son James who is in Europe. Everything that could go wrong in the past couple of days while traveling to see his grandmother in Germany went wrong, including not seeing her, missing two flights, sleeping in airports, being broke, depressed, angry, discouraged, hopeless, and crying. Any mother who has a tender heart towards her son knows that their problems affect your spirit and your emotions as well. It's hard to fix it thousands of miles away. Maybe fixing it isn't the answer at all. Maybe it's praying, keeping your heart and spirit uplifted towards the LORD and not on the circumstances, maybe it's doing battle with the enemy and using GOD'S WORD, pleaing the blood of Jesus and His authority over the circumstance that is in front of you. The problem that wants to rob you of your peace and your son of his hope. Jesus spoke the Word of God to Satan, stood his ground and forced him to flee. Satan hates God's WORD, hates prayer, hates faith, hates us keeping our eyes on the LORD and not on the person or situation he is using to defeat us. Does that make sense to anyone?

My morning devotion and maybe yours too......

The highlighted verses spoke to my spirit.

Proverbs 19

1 It is better to be poor and honest than to be a fool and dishonest.
2Zeal without knowledge is not good; a person who moves too quickly may go the wrong way.
3People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.
4Wealth makes many "friends"; poverty drives them away.
5A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.
6Many beg favors from a prince; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!
7If the relatives of the poor despise them, how much more will their friends avoid them. The poor call after them, but they are gone.
8To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.
9A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.
10It isn't right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!
11People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs.
12The king's anger is like a lion's roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13A foolish child[a] is a calamity to a father; a nagging wife annoys like a constant dripping.
14Parents can provide their sons with an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.
15A lazy person sleeps soundly--and goes hungry.
16Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.
17If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD--and he will repay you!
18Discipline your children while there is hope. If you don't, you will ruin their lives.
19Short-tempered people must pay their own penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.
20Get all the advice and instruction you can, and be wise the rest of your life.
21You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail.
22Loyalty makes a person attractive. And it is better to be poor than dishonest.
23Fear of the LORD gives life, security, and protection from harm.
24Some people are so lazy that they won't even lift a finger to feed themselves.
25If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you reprove the wise, they will be all the wiser.
26Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are a public disgrace and an embarrassment.
27If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you have turned your back on knowledge.
28A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29Mockers will be punished, and the backs of fools will be beaten.