Taming the Beast

Recently, we purchased this:

 

It’s a Voltage Converter, designed to keep our electronics safe when we plug them into at 220 V electrical system.  It weighs 22 lbs, and I not-so-affectionately call it The Beast.

When you only have 50 lbs per suitcase, and you are moving your family overseas, this 22 lb. beast is a little stress-inducing.  It’s making me think creatively about packing, and that’s probably a good thing.  Because, after all, creativity is a necessity when you are moving your family overseas.  In more ways then one.

The Beast is a necessity.  It keeps things working.  Necessary things like phones and laptops, and helpful things like walkie-talkies and MP3 players.  I’m fighting the beast, wrestling it into a suitcase, because we need it.

I’m fighting other beasts these days as well.  Beasts like sadness, grief, and a need for more faith.  I’d rather fight The Beast.  It stays where I put it.

Fighting beasts like sadness and neediness is hard…  but even more necessary.  The difficulty, for me, is that they often don’t stay down, even when I flatten them to the floor. 

But fighting these beasts is a necessity too.   These are the battles that bring me to my knees, and closer to my Savior. 

They put me in my place.

My place is close to my Heavenly Father.  My place is where I can hear His voice and I choose to obey.  Fighting these beasts forces me to move to that place. 

This morning, I won.  I spent an hour with God and the beasts ended up on the floor. 

Tomorrow, they may be back.  If they are, their presence means I’m out of place again. 

So, while I am wrestling with The Beast and our 12 suitcases, I’m trying to remember to stay put, in this place where I belong.  It’s the only way to keep the beasts one the ground… and everyone exactly where they belong.

What are your frequent beastly visitors and how do you tame them?  Got any verses or advice to share?