Sometimes, They're More Than Just Rewards

This past week has been AMAZING for UNINTIMIDATED. God has worked so greatly in two very specific areas. One I shared earlier, that God had sent someone, for at least a day, to pray with Tebow over our request. The other came Friday, when 12 kids showed up at 2:45 to pray for UNINTIMIDATED, many of whom I had prayed specifically that God would work in their hearts to bring them in. Our prayer group has doubled the number of teens alone that are now a part of this...fourteen teenagers are now committed to pray on a daily basis for Tim Tebow. I am so excited to see how God will now work, and the change something like this will bring to our high school.
     This working of God did not go unnoticed by Satan. As you can imagine, he went on the attack. Something very minor happened at school on Wednesday, but apparently it was just bad timing, because I cried, rather hard, for the rest of the day. I felt so miserable about it, I almost didn't go to church. A few hours before services began the Holy Spirit asked me if I was going to let Satan win this way, one day after God had so directly answered a prayer. So I went to church and of course it helped, mostly. On the way home, I didn't really want to pray about Tebow or our request, so I determined to just go home and go to bed. The Holy Spirit then asked me if I would really not pray in a week where I was asking God to speak to numerous teens about UNINTIMIDATED. He then reminded me that that very day, two teens had committed and would be joining us on Friday. So I prayed. Thursday as I was driving to school, I stopped at a store and realized my tire was flat...yes ANOTHER tire, that makes three if you're counting...and I am. :) I called a friend to pick me up, got my shopping done and went to school, completely unruffled. Things didn't quite go as planned and my car didn't get fixed, but Safeway was amazing and told me not to worry about having my car towed. I did manage to get it fixed Friday afternoon, after a few snags, for a really decent price, after twelve teens showed up to pray.
     It was really hard to get anxious or upset. God had sent so many blessings into my life this week that they were my focus. When I did get upset, God reminded me of the blessings He had already sent.  Blessings are amazing, and sometimes God send them to us as more than a reward for obedient living. Sometimes, they are reminders and sometimes they are distractors so we stay focused on Him and not on what Satan is trying to do around us.
     I always try to be thankful for the things God does for me, but this week, there's just a bit more gratefulness for what God did because for once in what seems a very long time, Satan didn't win a battle he usually does...and all because God sent the blessings first.