Satan and Sundays

1 James 1:26  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  NIV

I've always said that Satan does his best work on Sundays.  Your children are so well-behaved all week, but on Sunday morning, it's like they change into little demons that you have to drag out the door.  You buckle the kids in the car only to glance in the mirror and see that your hair, that you actually took the time to fix, is now glued down on one side with kid snot, and your lipstick is smeared up by your eye.  You glance over at your husband, who is checking his watch, and want to throat punch him because he is still looking like a GQ model.  This is probably because he has been sitting in the car for 5 minutes, blowing the horn as a reminder that it's time to leave for church, while you frantically search for a pair of shoes that actually match. Wow!  You are now ready for worship!  Whatever.

It takes a lot of prayer to survive Sunday mornings.  That is just the homefront.  I'm sure we all have days in which we feel that Satan is having a field day in our lives.  In my quest to find balance in my life, I am learning that the struggle is real with the whole "bridle his tongue" thing.  All my life, I have been a very blunt person.  If it comes up (in my head), it comes out (of my mouth).  Sometimes, this is a good thing because there is no grey matter in my conversations.  However, as I grow as a Christian, I am realizing that I don't have to say what I am thinking.  I have the ability to escalate a situation, or the ability to just let it die.  In other words, Satan can use me as a weapon in his work, or I can take away his power.

In our day to day lives, we are going to encounter people who will just, as my sister says, "gritch our grass".  As I get older, I am realizing that time spent angry is time wasted.  Also, time spent angry is not Godly.  I'm sure that there will be many, many, MANY more times in my life in which Satan will try me.  I think my prayer today will be that I do not deceive my heart into thinking I am religious, when my mouth is speaking something else.  "Thank you, Jesus, for teaching me this life lesson.  Thank you for your grace."