Is your sock falling off 

and what are you doing about it?

 

Do you ever have one of those days where you walk around like everything is fine, but deep down inside your shoe, your sock is falling off? And no one knows it’s falling off, but you can feel it and it irritates you. You shake your foot, hoping that by some miracle your sock will magically rise above your ankle, and all will be right again. Or maybe, you reach down and give your sock a little tug. A half-hearted tug, you’re not really trying, just hoping. And all the while, your sock is slipping further and further down inside your shoe, making your life miserable, uncomfortable, unbearable.

Okay, let’s make an application out of this amusing, yet truthful little anecdote.

I had one of these days just yesterday. As I went about my business, delivering my freight around town, loading and unloading boxes, struggling with heavy bed frames, gym equipment, plumbing supplies and everything else under the sun, I feigned friendliness. I smiled as I handed the goods over, making conversation about the steamy weather, or the rain or how heavy an item was etc. But down deep inside, my sock was falling off.

Something just wasn’t right. I didn’t feel happy, although I put a smile on my face and made pleasant conversation. My mood was downright miserable. I was discontent. Frustrated. Tired and grumpy. I was snappy with my husband for no apparent reason, and it seemed things just kept going wrong. I dropped things, forgot things, had to double back and forth, wasting precious time and no matter how many times I shook my foot, that sock remained in its downward spiral into the depths of my shoe.

It didn’t seem to make sense. I really had nothing to be so miserable about. I had started the morning with my usual cup of tea and toast and enjoyed getting into God’s Word, studying, memorizing, taking notes, spending time in prayer before I headed out for the day.

Okay, so my day did take an unexpected turn in regard to the job description for the day, as my planned half day turned into a very long and full day. But it was nothing that hadn’t happened before. In fact, it often happens.

I just couldn’t shake that miserable, depressed feeling. And as inevitably happens when I begin to feel this way, I started to experience anxiety welling up inside. And then came the whispers. “Look at you. You’re spiralling. You’re going to be back where you were 4 years ago. You are worthless. You thought you were so good, being able to rise up from the darkness and live and breathe again, and now look at you!”

I tried listening to worship music, my favourite playlists, but to no avail. Music almost always works to soothe my soul and bring peace and comfort and ease my mind when it’s in turmoil. But today, it just wasn’t working.

That sock of mine was hanging on to my foot by barely one toe. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping.

Now, some of you may say, “It’s just hormones”. And yes, sometimes that is true. But I knew it was more.

As I searched my mind for what may have caused my inner turmoil and all-round miserableness, I started to remember an adversary of mine, an enemy of every Christian. The Devil.

We are reminded in scripture that the Devil loves nothing more than to devour us and to bring us down.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

As I struggled to find answers and make sense of my bad attitude and depressed mood, I thought about my morning devotions.

At the beginning of this month, as is my custom, I sat down and wrote some goals for the year. Some of these have to do with learning a new skill or improving and mastering a skill, others have to do with keeping in touch with people in my life on a more meaningful basis. But, quite a few of my goals are spiritual ones.

I wanted to start and finish a 2-year Bible Reading plan. I wanted to work on memorizing certain passages of scripture. I wanted to work my way through my ever-growing stack of books on all sorts of subjects to do with my Christian walk.

I had begun rereading a book on the way our thoughts affect us and was excited at what I was learning and this time, taking copious amounts of notes to cement it into my brain.

And just that day, I had decided to add another thing into my morning devotion time, which meant rising a little earlier in order to achieve it.

Well, now into the middle of January, I had consistently read my allotted passages for each and every day and I had been faithfully taking notes and finding myself excited each morning at what God would show me through his Word and what I could share with others as I write and teach other like-minded women with a desire to learn.

As I went back over my morning and over the goals I hoped to achieve in 2023, I began to see my mood for what it was.

I am not always the quickest learner, and I didn’t realise until it was brought painfully to my attention.

Now, I know when you read what I am going to write next, some of you may think I’m a little eccentric, or weird, or just plain strange. But, in the past, through my months of depression, I had experienced many episodes like this, and I suddenly knew what it was.

But not before I was made painfully aware.

As I loaded my trusty trolley back into the ute, I reached down to raise the very heavy, steel dropside of the ute (which is broken and doesn’t function the way it should). As I did, the whole side fell off it’s hinges and came crashing down onto the top of my foot!  (I’m sure it was the one the sock was falling off)

It was not a pleasant experience, but I managed to bite my tongue, and not yell aloud, not wanting to frighten the lady who had just gone back into her house with her prized possessions.

And this was my epiphany. My moment of great realization. I saw my mood and the reason for it. I saw it as a direct attack of the Devil.

And boy oh boy did my hackles rise. I snapped. If I could have shouted aloud, I would have. But inwardly, I shouted with all my might “That’s it Devil! No more! You want to fight? Well, you got yourself a fight! And you’re about to bite the dust! I have God on my side!”

I realised that the Devil had been taking notice of my morning devotions and my consistent early rising in order to spend time with the Lord. And there is nothing the Devil hates more than a Christian who is striving to walk with the Lord and obey his voice. He hates the Word of God going into our hearts and minds. He hates a passionate Christian. He hates a praying Christian. And he will do anything he can to bring them down. He will use whatever lies he has to, in order to do it.

John 8:44 - Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Now, I have nothing to boast in. To my regret, for years I wasted precious mornings not spending time in God’s Word and it is only by his mercy and grace that I am able to do it now, and the marvellous work he has done in my heart through many hard trials.

But I know from past experience that the Devil loves to weave his little lies into my thoughts and those thoughts become actions, hence the bad attitude. Our thoughts truly do affect how we behave.

Well, once I realised I was under attack from the Devil, I may have told him in not so polite terms just where he could go, and remind him he was already defeated and then I found my ‘fighting song’ in my playlist and played it over and over as I tried to sing along, trying not to let the tears stream down my face, as I still had deliveries to make and thought it best not to be a slobbering mess. But I did manage to sing the words with much force and passion, although shaky and out of tune.

Promises in scripture began to come to mind and I repeated Philippians 4:8 to myself, reminding me of what I should be thinking on. What is True. Honest. Just. Pure. Lovely. Good report. Praiseworthy. Virtuous.

And as I did, my spirits began to rise. The sun came out and chased the dark clouds away. I began to find a spring in my step. And that sock, well, it was well and truly pulled up!

Now, in case you’re wondering, was I able to keep my spirits up all day? Well, the pain in my bruised foot was a constant reminder of the Devil’s attack, so that kept my fighting spirit alive, and with God’s help and his Word in my heart, I made it through the day in a much better frame of mind.

But after a night of sleep and another early morning start, the fight began again. But this time I was ready. And as little things started to go wrong, and the clouds threatened to darken the sky, I was able to hold my head up, and shout the Devil down.

And, if you were my neighbour, this morning at about 7.30, you may possibly have heard me shout, aloud this time, “Not today Devil. Not today. You’re not gonna win today!” I didn’t even let him get a foothold. Not even one toe!

So, can I encourage you, when you feel under attack from the Devil, and you begin to believe his lies, open your mouth, shout him down, quote scripture to him, play your worship music loudly in his ears and make sure he hears you singing with all your might songs of praise to God.

Don’t let him get the Victory. He is already defeated. God has already prepared a place for him and his angels and he will get what he deserves.

You are a Child of God. You are an heir. You are not worthless. You are made in the image of God. You have a Heavenly Father. Satan can never take that away from you. You are held in God’s hand, and it is an Almighty hand, from which no one can take you!

Pull that sock up and keep it there!

Replace thoughts of worthlessness with reminders of God’s goodness and love to you.

Rejoice in the victories God gives you.

Shout in praise that you are an overcomer and God is on your side!

 

Romans 8:31

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

Psalm 47:1

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.