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She Stooped to Conquer
LaTan Roland Murphy
SHE STOOPED TO CONQUER
from her book entitled, Becoming A Woman of Interior Elegance
www.latanmurphy.com
Today's Truth
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ Ephesians 5:21
Thought for today: The elegant woman of God stoops to conquer...(from Becoming A Woman of Interior Elegance)
Friend to Friend
"Mom, they were whispering to one another about the birthday party.
They didn't want me to hear because I am not invited," My daughter said with trembling voice as tears filled her big beautiful eyes.
My heart was breaking in half as I listened to how hurt she was. "They are my best friends at school, Mom. Why would they not invite me?"
I reached out to hug her, our arms wrapping around each other tightly as she turned her soft tear stained face toward my neck. It was a familiar crying spot as she had buried her face there time and time again in the same position since she was a baby. We help each other without speaking a word for a while. Sometimes there are just no words to make things better so I cried with her.
One week later while driving our daughter to school she asked her dad in a quiet voice if he would please stop at the grocery store.
"Why DaNae'? Do you need something for school?"
"Well, sort of."
"What do you need, honey, because we are already going to be late?"
"I need to buy a balloon for someone who is having a birthday party tonight."
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Do you remember the girl who was whispering about her birthday party in front of me? Well, I want to take a balloon to school for her."
I looked over at my husband and he looked at me, each of our hearts melting both with a sense of pride and of sadness. We knew we had to stop even if it meant we would be late. it was worth it!
Da-Nae' walked happily into the grocery store and in a few moments she came running out with a huge grin spread across her seventh grade face. her balloon was flying high in the air with a pack of chewing gum hanging from the bottom, acting as a weight. She was the happiest girl in the world!
My husband and I were so blessed by our daughter's actions that
morning. She stooped to conquer feelings that could have been feelings of anger and hurt. Some people might ask why she would make a fool of herself
after being treated the way she was or how she could lower herself after what her friend had done to her but when Christ is in the center of our lives, He empowers us to do things we could never do in our own human nature. She chose not to be a martyr. She chose to stoop a little so she could rise up on a much higher level. She chose to reject her sadness about not being invited to the party. She reaped the blessings of stooping to conquer her emotions and blessed her friend in spite of how she had been treated.
When was the last time you stooped to conquer?
Let's Pray:
"Lord Jesus, please give me courage to stoop to conquer emotions that are not in perfect alignment with your plan for me. Help me to be a woman of character--- submitting to your leading in my life each day. Show me how to respond in a Godly way when I am hurt. Thank you Lord Jesus for stooping to conquer death and the grave for my salvation. I pray my life will reflect the gratitude you deserve." Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS:
* Stooping seems like hard work because stooping involves bending. Bending, in the physical sense means going lower physically speaking. By the world's standard to stoop means to lower ones standards and does not sound appealing at all! But...today we learn that stooping actually results in conquering.
* Stoop means to yield or submit (webster dictionary)
* Conquer means : to gain mastery over or win by overcoming obstacles or opposition; to overcome by mental or moral power (Webster dictionary)
* We actually WIN when we submit to Christ by doing the RIGHT thing
even when we are hurt
* Hurt will come to each of us. We can not change that fact. What we can change is the way we respond to hurtful situations in our lives. Will we become bitter or better? This is the question we must ask ourselves.
* Think of a hurt you have carried. Think about how it has affected
your life. How did you respond to the hurt?
* Ask the Lord to bind up your wounded heart and heal you completely. Ask Him to give you such Godly character that every response is in alignment to His perfect will.
* Submitting to one another does not mean we are lowering our
standards or becoming a door matt. It does mean that we love Christ so much and out of reverence to Him we are able to submit to emotions that would otherwise destroy us and cause us to respond in anger and resentment.
* Anger, hurt and resentment only destroy one person...the ONE WHO CARRIES these emotions.
* Allow Christ to fill all the empty places in your heart
* By stooping to conquer these emotions you will defeat the enemy's ploy to destroy and ultimately win over sin!
* Remember that we are all made in the image of God and by submitting to one another as the scripture reference reminds us today, we will be reverencing God in the most beautiful way.
* We will be identifying with Christ as He lowered himself in order to conquer death and the grave ... ALL FOR US!
Challenges for today: Stoop to conquer emotions that are trying to destroy you. In doing so you will RISE UP to the occasion Christ is calling you to!
La-Tan Murphy: Popular speaker and singer at Christian Women's events. A Freelance artist. Runs her own business, Interior Elegance, as an interior decorating consultant.
www.latanmurphy.com
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