Can life be any more of a whirlwind that carries us and drops us into this thing called busyness? Some days I wake up wondering when I last sat on my couch with my coffee, Bible, and dog ready to explore what God wanted to reveal to me through scripture that day. As silly, hipster, and shallow as it sounds, in a life lived so fast-paced it's okay to enjoy the little things as long as we don't limit God and put Him in a box.

So here I am, driving to the next thing on my schedule with about 45 minutes to spend with Jesus in the car. I pull off to the holiest place on earth called Chick-fil-a to get breakfast and then hop right back on the freeway. As I begin to drive, I feel the Lord's presence ready to teach me and reveal something to me in that moment. So I start praying, worshiping, and preparing my heart to receive exactly what the Lord has.

In this very moment, I experienced something I had never been apart of before. God's presence was almost tangible. I felt I could almost grab it and hold on forever. I, of course, had to do the millennium or generation x thing and post on Facebook how real the presence of God was in my car right then (at the gas station).

After I finished posting I began to drive again. About a mile down the freeway, I noticed traffic slowing down so I reacted by also slowing as well. Go down another quarter mile and all of a sudden I see red and blue lights behind me.

My heart sank and I could feel the presence of God being pushed away as my focus was now on this officer. Why was I being pulled over? I wasn't speeding. Maybe I have a tail light out or something, I began to think. I come to a stop on the side of the highway, turned the worship music down, and start looking for my insurance card and drivers license. The officer came to my window, didn't even say hello, asked for my license, and told me that I was being pulled over for not wearing my seatbelt.

I was SHOCKED. If you have ever been in my car, you know I have the most annoying seatbelt alarm in the whole world so I never forget to buckle up. I, of course, have gray seatbelts and was wearing a gray shirt that day. With no intention of letting me off the hook, the police officer went back to her car and wrote me a ticket for no insurance and no seatbelt.

I drove away with anger, bitterness, sadness, and an overwhelmed heart not even realizing what I had just faced. I called my dad hoping to hear words that would comfort me in this unfair situation. When he answered the phone I explained what happened justifying my actions and defending myself. Immediately my dad stopped me. This what He said:

" Hope, you had just posted on Facebook about the presence of God being so thick and no look at where you are. Angry, bitter, shocked, etc. Don't you see that the enemy came as soon as you were in the center of the will of God to pull you right back out? You didn't just wrestle against flesh, the enemy just came to steal your joy."

When I heard these words I began to sob. I had been attacked by the enemy and I had let Him steal my joy. I hung up the phone, turned the music up loud, and began to call out against the devil shattering every stronghold He had just tried to burden me with. "Satan you will not rob me of joy. You will not take me from the center of God's will. You will not put me in the bondage that Jesus set me free from."

I wish I could say that I instantly felt the presence of God again, but I didn't. What I did learn was how real spiritual warfare is, even today.

My little snippet of encouragement today is, don't allow the enemy to rob you of something God has already taken care of. He sees lightyears beyond what we see. Something like a traffic ticket, sickness, loss of family member, problems at work, etc. can't keep you from the joy that the Lord wants you to experience in your time with Him.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. --Colossians 3:2