Overcoming the Wet Paper Towel

By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3, NLT)

The last few days I’ve had an issue. Those closest to me might ask, “Only one?”

Moving right along.

The other day, Mike and I had a disagreement. It was nothing major and we even laughed at one another throughout the "intense fellowship”. At one point I was laying on our bed and he walked in (while drying his hands with a paper towel) and he said something to me. Honestly, I don’t even remember what he said. I responded with something humorously sarcastic (Again, I don’t even remember…that’s how insignificant this disagreement was.) I don’t remember what I said; however, I do remember my comment was hilarious! At which point he (playfully) threw the wet paper towel at me. 

We went about our day and I forgot about the paper towel. When I went to bed, I was still a bit huffy about the whole incident so I threw the paper towel on his pillow. He threw it, I concluded he could dispose of it. 

He never even saw the paper towel. I wanted to say, “How can you NOT see that paper towel?!” But I didn’t, I just kept the paper towel’s existence to myself. Hummph. The paper towel bothered me and he was unaware it bothered me. The next morning, somehow, the paper towel ended up on the floor! For those who know me personally, my motto is, “A thing for everything and everything in it’s place.” I felt as if this paper towel was taunting me! Ok, not really but it was just a reminder to me (in my opinion) of Mike not doing what I thought he should do which was, just throw the thing in the trash!

Day three (Yes, I know...I allowed this to go on for three days. Petty alert!) and somehow the paper towel ended up in my hallway (from my bedroom to my bathroom).

I said (to myself), “How LONG must I DEAL with this paper towel??!” As clearly as I heard my own voice, God spoke to my spirit and said, “As long as you decide to deal with it.”

BOOM. Hello. Wake up. I choose. (Deuteronomy 30:19 and Ephesians 5:2, ouch…)

I gently walked up to the paper towel, picked it up, threw it in the trash, and said, “Your days of bothering me are o.v.e.r.” 

A paper towel may be insignificant compared to what you may be dealing with today. But by His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. (2 Peter 1:3) How did I overcome the paper towel and how do we overcome every obstacle that we face? We make the decision to overcome and then we use His Word to walk out our overcomingness. Yes. I know that is not a real word; however, it is very effective and I like it!

Father, again, thank You for this life lesson. Thank You for speaking so clearly to us, we need You every second of our lives! (2 Timothy 3:16, John 10:27) I pray for every reader right now. Please empower them to make the decisions they must make in order to deal with their “paper towels”. And please order their steps by Your Word into victory in the name of Jesus! (Psalm 119:133, John 14:14)

The Beautiful Swan

During reading time with my girls, I chose The Ugly Duckling. This is very uncommon because I generally always choose something new to read that they haven't read before. I really sensed a leading from the Holy Spirit to choose this story.

The book explains how the ducks were very mean to the duckling. They pecked the duckling (physical abuse) and said mean things (verbal abuse). They bombarded the duckling from all sides. Then came the geese and herons which were also very mean, saying ugly things and subjecting the duckling to more pecking (abuse/neglect).

Then the duckling got away from the mean ducks, geese and the heron. The book says, "The duckling went off to himself and the duckling grew." Once the duckling relocated itself, it grew. To further elaborate, once the duckling removed itself from exterior pressure, it grew. The book means physically, but I believe we grow spiritually when we get away from exterior pressure. When we remove ourselves from all the "noise" and commune with Him, we lay aside everything that hinders us and we run with perseverance because there is no excess baggage to meditate on. Mediating on the wonderful goodness of God brings light to any situation. 

Then one day, a fellow swan swam over and spoke to the "ugly duckling"...that...had...grown. Even though the duckling had changed, even though it grew, it still saw itself as it was prior to the growth. But the fellow swan saw the "ugly duckling" for what it actually was! A beautiful swan!

Sometimes, we feel like we have been pecked and chipped away at from all sides; parents, spouse, children, work, car problems, bills, medical issues, loneliness, societal "norms" attempting to tell us we don't stack up. All those things are not absolute truth. 

Brother Terry Mize taught me, "I know God is good and I know His Word is Truth. Truth always trumps true. What may be true today, may not be true tomorrow." 


Please allow me to elaborate. Your mother/father/siblings/spouse/children (In other words, anyone who isn't speaking God's Truth which is His Word.) may have said mean things to you to make you believe you are an ugly duckling. But you are not an ugly duckling. You are a child of God. (John 1:12)  He calls you His friend. (John 15:15) You belong to Him. (1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20) 

Ask Him for a verse that reconciles with your spirit. Make that verse yours. You don't need a hundred verses. I believe it was Kenneth Copeland who said, "One word from God can change your life forever". Be faithful in replacing all other "noise" with your scripture. You can trump true with Absolute Truth! (Hebrews 4:12)

You can make the decision to take the Word of God and literally rewire your brain and rewrite your future to align with absolute Truth. Truth trumps true. Choose to take everything that has been said to you and trump it with, "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is mine through Christ, who loves me."

Overwhelming victory is ours!

Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your thoughts are in your head so you control them. Joy must come. (Psalm 30:5)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ...who is in Christ? YOU are in Christ! You are a new creature! All this newness is from God! It doesn't matter what anyone has said to you as a child, or what people say about you now if they gang up on you! Because, if what they say doesn't line up with the Word of God, it is a lie, how exciting! And since that is truth, you don't have to think on it! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Consider this, perhaps others have said things to you not based on what how they see you but through filters they view themselves through. Perhaps they have more issues with themselves than they do with you but they have used you for their fall guy. 

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

What are you going to think of yourself? What are you going to say about yourself? 

Are you going to base your thoughts and words in light of what others have thought and said? Or according to His marvelous light and dependent on what He thinks and according to what He has said? 

This choice is not only about you. It is also about your descendants.
This is truly your choice, so always, always, choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19)