Friday, December 11, 2020
by Shirley Ross

The Elders were asked if someone could volunteer to contact the contributors to our Advent devotional.  I said that I could contact people, but I couldn’t contribute.  No one else volunteered, so I was it.  As I was making a list of the ones to contact, I thought, “I can’t ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do.”

I remembered when I was a youth at Bell Ridge Christian Church. Jean Burkett did a lot of special numbers.  She’d play the guitar and sing.  One particular time she couldn’t get it started right.  Finally, she said, “Get behind me, Satan!” and then she did a beautiful job.  How many times have I let Satan discourage me from trying again, or not even attempting something that I’m capable of?

Consider this for a moment, and maybe you can think of something that seems too difficult for you to do.  Try saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” That will open the way for the Spirit of the Lord to work in you.

Now I can say, “Thank you, God, for helping me with this task.”  (It wasn’t as hard as Satan made it appear.)