Pump It Up! Live Elated, Not Deflated Through Disappointing Daysਨਮੂਨਾ

Prepare for pirates

Dinghy days leave us vulnerable to negative thoughts, insecurity, and the temptation to give up. Guarding our hearts and minds is so important in preventing pesky pirates from hijacking our dinghys.

The definition of a pirate is someone who comes to rob and pillage from you. Examples of pirates likely to try and jump aboard during dinghy days would be pirates of: doubt, despair, guilt, inferiority, comparison, disappointment, failure, hopelessness, fear, negativity, pity - the looting list goes on. Remember the treasure we talked about - that’s what they’re after - they want to plunder every good thing you have and leave you feeling desperate, without hope, and focused on what you lack.

My personal pirates were failure, embarrassment, insecurity, and negativity. In Christian circles, it’s often taught that we come against these ‘pirates’ with the word of God. I absolutely believe we should do that. But I also think it’s really important to ‘properly process the particular pirates trying to plunder us personally’. What I mean by that is we need to let God do a deep work in our hearts and minds. We can’t just put a plaster on a pirate, even if it’s a plaster with a scripture written on it. Some of these pirates reveal deep wounds, and plasters don’t work on wounds. Wounds need to be thoroughly cleaned out and have time to close and heal properly. This involves time, rest, soaking in scripture, prayer, honest conversations, repentance, and maybe some therapy too.

If I had just quoted a scripture at the pirates attempting to jump aboard, it would’ve been unlikely to permanently ward them off, despite the truth of that scripture. I needed to believe God’s word to be true before I could fully use it effectively to prevent the persistent pirate invasions. I needed to properly deal with the wounds that these pirates had exposed in my life and find a place of healing in them. These wounds were present because I had long believed lies about what it means to be a successful and valuable person. I had not fully accepted the truth of how much I was loved by God just as I am. God needed to do a deep work of healing in my life, to ensure I could stand strong with the sword of the Spirit (the Bible) in my hand and confidently make those pirates walk the plank.

Reflection

Have pirates exposed any wounds in your life? Ask God to show you how to properly process these pirates so you can find true healing in these areas.