Published: 16 January 2025
Last Updated: 16 January 2025
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Today I almost let anxiety get the best of me. The battle I have fought against stress has always been a fickle one and the desire to play “the blame game” always tends to surface.
As I set my iron sights, I contemplate:
“Who got me in this state of anxiousness? If I can simply figure that out, I can redirect my negative energy to the person who deserved it! Surely then I’ll feel better, right?”
Wrong. And today I was reminded not to blame someone for something that isn’t entirely their fault.
You see, today I was mad at someone, and it took a small discrepancy with a dentist office to help me remember where my frustration needed to be aimed…and that is the devil.
Now, I’m not saying that the dentist is the devil (although……you know what, never mind) LOL!
What I’m saying is, I needed to be sure to aim at the right target if indeed I was going to play the “blame game”.
Take a look at Genesis 3:13-14
Notice how God addressed the sneaky culprit (the serpent) first. Adam and Eve’s disobedience stemmed from somewhere…
I’ll try to further explain.
There was a misunderstanding between my insurance company and a new dentist I was seeing. Before arriving at my appointment, the same day I was told that I’d either have to pay out of pocket when I arrived, or I’d have to reschedule the appointment I had waited 3 months for. Why? Because their office claimed my insurance didn’t have me on file so they couldn’t apply my benefits. Naturally, I get upset and call my insurance to get to the bottom of the matter. I think to myself, I just saw the monthly payment get pulled from my account and now this insurance has the audacity to say I’m not in their system! As I aggressively go through the automated prompts, I think of dropping this company while I have them on the line. My agitation is heating up but when I finally get through to a representative, Holy Spirit nudged me to NOT take it out on the innocent lady just trying to do her job (“you’ve worked in customer service before, so mind your manners”). I verified my information & explained the situation. She pulled up my account right away & expressed her confusion as to why the dental office wasn’t able to verify me. She even suggested I do a three-way call to help me straighten things out.
Great idea!
So, I call the dental office & let them know I have my insurance on the other line to do a three-way call.
Lo and behold, since hanging up with me a few minutes ago they had gotten things straightened out. They realized there was no need to verify my coverage with the insurance. Hmmm, interesting. Then suddenly… the light 💡 kicked on in my head.
Ah, I see what you’re trying to tell me Lord…
Like the insurance lady whom I was getting ready to blame for the small dilemma, I was getting mad at someone else about a different matter I believed to be their fault! But, as it turns out, I shouldn’t be getting mad at them because the issue was stemming from a spiritual matter. More specifically, it was the devil working behind the scenes hoping I set my spiritual sniper on the wrong target. And it almost worked if it wasn’t for our gracious Lord encouraging me to love the sinner not the sin.
In order to address the flesh & blood matters we need to rebuke the powers working to kill, steal, and or destroy.
Ephesians 6:12-13 ⚠️ warns us to stay aware of the spiritual warfare going on behind the scenes. It may look a certain way in the physical realm but remember there is a very real presence of unseen forces surrounding and influencing us all.
Check out 2 Kings 6:17-20, it is a real…eye opener 😉
Shalom
Risa Rae
