Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God. —
1 John 4:1
Whose influence do we follow? Friends, relatives, and strangers can nudge our actions. So can invisible forces. When discouragement arrives, the negative takes the wheel and can steer us off the highway of love. Suddenly the road is full of ruts. While following Christ does not guarantee the absence of potholes, we know that God’s consolations navigate us to Christ. God directs us toward greater faith, hope, love, and peace. If those graces are running on empty, it’s time to stop and back up. Where did we take an off-ramp that left us listless and created noisy turmoil? Look under the hood. Test the energy levels. Reset the GPS (G for God) using more prayer, and giving thanks when consolations finally return.
