REALITY: When was the last time you stuck your head in the toilet and took a long drink?

DENIAL: Uh, NEVER.

REALITY: Really? Are you sure?

DENIAL: Absolutely.

REALITY: Hmm, that’s surprising. I regularly stick my head in there and take a big drink.

DENIAL: That’s disgusting.

REALITY: I thought everyone drank from the toilet.

DENIAL: Nope.

REALITY: Sometimes, right before I get a big drink, I catch myself and notice there’s a pitcher sitting right there within reach.

DENIAL: What’s a pitcher doing on top of the toilet?

REALITY: It’s God’s way of reminding me that He is jealous for me.

DENIAL: What would God have to be jealous about?

REALITY: For me, a lot of times God is reminding me to not compare myself to anyone else. It just leads to envy and unhappiness.

DENIAL: Hmm, sometimes I do wish I had what other people do.

REALITY: He’s reminding me to not allow anything else to control my mind or my behavior, because it takes me far away from walking with Him.

DENIAL: What do you mean by controlling you?

REALITY: Well, it could be different for every person. It could be drugs, alcohol, or nicotine. It could be eating too little or too much. It could be finding your worth in social media. It could be only feeling whole when your body looks a certain way. The list is endless.

DENIAL: I think I remember a few times I drank from the toilet.

REALITY: That’s good, it’s good for us to be honest with ourselves.

DENIAL: But what about the pitcher?

REALITY: When my head is down in the toilet in judgment, condemnation, gossip, and hatred, God makes me look at that pitcher. God uses that pitcher to remind me to speak words that edify, lift up, and encourage. When I’m wrapped up in self-focus, how I appear, and what other people think of me, I can see God’s hand on the handle of the pitcher. He’s reminding me He has clean, living water for me. He reminds me to rejoice when other people are succeeding, to seek balance in everything in my life, to only speak truth but never at anyone’s expense, to trust that His heart is genuinely for me. It’s His way of reminding me that He has so much more for me than water from the toilet.

DENIAL: Oh, yeah. I drink from the toilet all the time.

xo,

Nicole