No Law Against...

There are some times when God brings verses to my mind at just that perfect moment, and sometimes He reveals something I've never thought about before. Sometimes it's one of those "Wow, that's awesome!" types of situations. Other times it's more of an "ouch, that hurts!" circumstance.

Yesterday I experienced the latter of those two. The day had not been great. Well, to be honest, it was one of those days when it seemed that everything I touched fell apart, went wrong, or caused me a problem. As I was crying out to the Lord for help, this was his answer...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 (NASB)

"Yes, I know, Lord, but today has been such a rough day! I mean, sometimes it's just tough to radiate the fruit of the Spirit when everything seems stacked against me!"

All he did was repeat the verse, this time, though, with emphasis...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 (NASB)

The thoughts came flooding through...against such things there is no law does not stop with the legal authorities placed over us in the form of emperors, kings, queens, presidents, government, or any form of law enforcement. It doesn't even stop with authorities like parents, teachers, bosses, and preachers. It also includes the laws of circumstances, emotions, and physical health. And then there's the big one - hormones! Yes, it includes the law of hormones!

You see, I felt attacked from the moment I woke up yesterday. I had a very hard time dragging myself out of bed. When I did get up, I was bombarded with a headache, and I could feel the anxiety and aggravation grab hold of me. I thought back to the previous couple of days, and realized there had been one incident each day when I lost my temper with the kids in ways and over things of which I should have had better control. With all of these things flooding my mind, I knew what I was dealing with. Different people have different names for it. Some nickname it, and some just call it "that time of the month." Whatever it may be, I knew it was there. Doug can mark his calendar by my "time of the month." He knows the signs, and he and I both know that when the signs start, we are in for several days of hormonal upheaval.

As soon as I began to recognize the signs, I started praying, and Doug did too. I knew I needed help. And I received help all day long - that I do know. He greatly helped me deal with so many of the issues that faced me. But, it was still a very rough day. Many things I attempted to do just went wrong. I tried to make a graham cracker crust - should be an easy thing, right? Mine turned into a gooey mass on the bottom of the pie pan. I knocked things over every time I reached for something. I struggled with every little thing throughout the day.

As I was preparing supper and dealing with the "issues" at hand, that was the moment the Lord began reminding me of the fruit of the Spirit. He had helped me throughout the day, but at some point I had to make the decision to realize that even my wild and crazy hormones were no excuse for not exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and - the doozey during my hormonal days - self control.

Ouch! Against such things there is no law.