Everywhere you turn, you hear about inflammation.  

Take probiotics for your gut, drink kombucha tea, eat free-range, and my favorite, “Brain-Body Diet” by Sarah Gottfried.  (That’s all I need is another diet written by someone with the last name of “got-fried”!)

I do believe what they say is true, “you are what you eat”, and our food these days are loaded with things we should not be putting into our bodies or our brains.  

Romans 11:21 came to mind when thinking about inflammation – “Do not be puffed up with pride. Tremble rather–for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.”  

I guess my thought process of inflammation is puffing you up.  I know that’s what it does to me.

Pride is a lot like inflammation.  It gets in your soul, and heart, and damages your way of thinking.  

You start thinking of only yourself, or that your way of thinking is better than everyone else’s.  It puffs you up like a rooster strutting around, or a male peacock showing off his plumage.

We should be very careful the way we think because that is how we will act.  

Several months ago, my Pastor stated that we need not to hang around people that bring us down spiritually, and I agree.

I do not think that is being prideful, but saving yourself from constantly hearing negative thoughts, or thoughts that do not line up with God’s thoughts.  

We can be friends, but they should not be our main influence.  

He also stated we should find someone that is more mature than ourselves, to be a mentor.  

I was a little reluctant when I heard that.  Don’t get me wrong, you can always find someone to teach you something new.  If I approached someone and said “hey, you want to be my mentor?” just sounded lame to me.  (Maybe it’s pride!)

I thought of all sorts of ways that a person might react to me.  I thought of mostly bad reactions. Also, I wanted someone to pray for me, and my family, and them not just saying they are praying.   I somehow wanted to know they were accomplishing the task.

God just spoke to me and said, “start praying for someone, whether they pray for you or not.”  

So, I chose a Godly woman in my church.  Someone very bubbly and happy, always speaking God’s word and always volunteering.  I don’t know her that well, and she’s not perfect, but I know she loves God and strives to show Him and others, His love.  

I started texting prayers to her phone and praying for her and her family, each day.  The text prayers are short but to the point. Well, if you keep sending prayers to someone who loves God, their natural reaction is to start praying for you.  And that’s exactly what happened.

She started texting me back, asking if there was anything specific, she could pray for me.  I did not ask her, but she also started advising me in directions I should choose. She is probably not aware that this is what I prayed for, but God knows!  He is the master orchestrater!

 

Karen Y. Stevens is the founder of Orange County Christian Writers Guild