Peer Pressure …

I don’t have to deal with peer pressure, I’m an adult, right?!  Wrong.  In my life I struggle day in and day out to just be myself.  The perfect Stacey would be 148lbs, playing softball with the church league, running and playing with my kids in the yard.  I have my own expectations and yes, my own disappointments regarding myself, as I am sure we all do. 

Over the last few weeks, I’ve come to realize it is not just my physical appearance I wish I could change, in fact, recently found myself wishing I could be something I wasn’t just to keep peace and to make everybody “happy.”  That’s a tough place to be, regardless of age.  So here I am, 38 years old, wishing I could be something I’m not, and not for the material gain, not for the physical aspects, but to be “accepted”  for something I’m not.

So, how do I, as an adult, deal with this.  Anger, hurt and lashing out was my first instinct; but thankfully, I have a Lord that loves me enough to stop me in my tracks and put me in check.

Through the night I tossed and turned and thought.

This morning, instead of reading my Bible in the living room, I sat in my room, on my bed, and picked up my “teen” Bible.  I had been yearning for a different perspective on things, and wanted to learn the basics of the Old Testament, so “The Explorer’s Study Bible” was an answer to prayer for me.

Since I don’t read out of this Bible every day, I opened it searching for comfort.

Comfort is what I found; comfort is what one will always find when one searches the Word of God! 

This is what I read:

“PEER PRESSURE

What do you think of when you hear the words “peer pressure”?

Peer pressure is simply temptation.  “Temptation” is the word the Bible uses to describe our struggle to obey God’s Word and the desire to give in to the pressure of sin, whether is comes from our friends, our family, or our own desires.

One of the major lessons I have learned from observing people in my own life and the lives of those in the Bible is this:  OBEYING GOD IS ALWAYS SMART.  DISOBEYING GOD TO PLEASE OTHERS IS ALWAYS STUPID!

A good example of what this kind of temptation or peer pressure looks like is found in the life of a young teenager named Josep.  Genesis 39 says that Joseph faced peer pressure from a woman that he saw every day.  This woman tempted Joseph to disobey God and to sin with her – but Joseph refused to listen to her and obeyed God instead.

YOU CAN LEARN SIX PRINCPLES FROM JOSEPH ON HOW TO AVOID PEER PRESSURE:

1.  Joseph stayed as far from the cliff of sin as possible (Genesis 39:10).

2.  Joseph learned to say know to his peers (Genesis 39:8; Romans 13:14).

3.  Joseph considered the consequences ahead of time (Genesis 39: 8 & 9; Galatians 6: 7 & 8).

4.  Joseph hated sin because he knew it to be “great wickedness (Genesis 39:9; Romans 12:9).

5.  Joseph’s love for God was greater than the enjoyment of sin (Genesis 39:9; Revelation 2: 4 & 5).

6.  Joseph ran from sin (2 Timothy 2:22).

You too will face peer pressure and the temptation from others to sin, but you can overcome temptation by keeping close to Jesus.  Ask Him to help you, and by His power, you will defeat peer pressure just like Joseph did.”

My desire would be, is, to one day be able to write my name in each place where Joseph’s name is. 

Today, I am thankful for how the Lord made me, for my strengths, my weaknesses’, … for who I am.

Today, I am able to pray and ask the Lord to change me where changes are needed in order to be more Christ like.

Today, I am able to eat crow and do what I have to do, even when misunderstood.

Today … today, July 7, 2010, marks a milestone in my life.  Today marks 12 years of sobriety for me.

Today, I will make every effort … no, I ask the Lord to empty me of self, and fill me with His Spirit, so He can use me for His desire, not my own desire.

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