BEGIN THE YEAR WITH FAITH NOT FEAR
At the foot of the giant whose name is FEAR, lies a million New Year's Resolutions, slain and crippled and broken. Yet FEAR doesn't have a mind of his own—he is controlled by you. When you believe the lies of the enemy, he rises up and lurches toward you, arms outstretched with a leery grin on his grotesque face. While he cripples your dreams, slays your potential, and prevents you from walking the path Christ created you for, you do not sit by powerless. For when you choose faith, FEAR is stopped in his tracks. When you claim God's promises over your life, he flinches as if struck, flailing at an unseen assailant, and when you speak the name of Jesus he is struck down in defeat. Faith and fear are two sides of the same coin. This is the first of a series of posts about flipping that coin, so that it lands faith side up, every time.
RIDING THE STORM
My first motorcycle was a Suzuki VL250, and I rode more kilometres on that beast in one year than I have on my 1100cc in 5. I used it to commute to work in country Victoria—a 45 min perilous expedition down a wind-blown rain-swept cattle-truck-pounded highway. The weight of the 250 was both a blessing and a curse—a blessing because for a beginner you can wield the bike easily, a curse because whilst it would sit on 120 no problem with a tail wind, you'd be pushing 85 with a head wind. Add that this particular stretch of highway was prone to heavy winds and rain, factor in the buffeting of passing trucks and you have a problem—you get blown around like a rag doll.
RELAXING YOUR GRIP
I learnt that to ride in strong winds you have to do something counter-intuitive: relax your grip on the handlebars. You see, when you clutch them like a boa-constrictor around its prey, and the wind pounds you in the chest, it travels straight down your arms into the bike's steering and jolts you all over the road. However if you relax your grip and let your arms go floppy (almost like pretending they're not attached to your wrists), the wind still slams you in the chest but it doesn’t knock you off course. Instead of your own strength you rely on the power of the bike to pull you through the wind; by resisting less, you actually become more in control. It’s counter-intuitive, but it works.
FOCUSING ON CHRIST
It’s the same with Christ. When you commit yourself to him the world will conspire to steal you back, and it will be like those buffeting winds pushing you this way and that. Whether you’re new in your faith or not, this will happen regularly. The bible promises testing, trials, and also tells us how to get through them. Think of Christ as the motorcycle—pulling you inexorably forward despite the wind and rain and hail, and faith is you focusing on staying on the bike rather than fighting the elements. You let him do the work. The more you try to control the trials and circumstances around you, the less control you’ll have.
LEAVING ROOM IN THE RING
The human response to fear is fight or flight, and both are insufficient for the spiritual giants in your life—only faith will slay them. When we are afraid, we tense up, we fight, we throw our puny strength at the problem. But the Bible says, "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." If we fight, we take matters into our own hands and leave no room for God. Who wants to take on Mike Tyson themselves when the creator or the universe wants to step into the ring for you?
STAYING CALM IN THE STORM
The disciples learned this is a fishing boat. A supernatural storm whipped up and they began to thrash about and rock the boat, screaming out, '"Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" To which Jesus replied: "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.' Notice that Jesus dealt with the disciples' fear before he dealt with the storm. Why? My guess is because he was also in the boat, and he couldn't do much while the others were thrashing about in panic! We have to learn to ride the storm not fight it.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT WEAPON
You don't see battles fought against modern armies with bows and arrows—you need the same technology if you stand a chance against your enemies. You need the right weapon for the war, and our war is a spiritual one. We can't fight a storm in our lives with fear. The bible says it's not the people or the circumstances that are the issue—it's the spirit behind them, pulling the strings, and these can’t be fought with your own strength in your flesh. Spirit must be fought with spirit, and that’s why God says he will do it for us. If you clothe yourself in God’s spirit you are far superior to anything the enemy can throw at you. The weakest person with God is stronger than the strongest without.
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
One of the most powerful scriptures in the bible are words from God himself: "Be still and know that I am God." When we choose fear over faith, we whittle our options down to fight or flight, and neither are conducive to being still. Perhaps that's why there are so many scriptures that say, "Do not be afraid." I read a post on Pinterest claiming that the bible has 365 expressions or variations of this—one for each day of the year. I don't know if that's factually correct, but hey it's true that the Bible says it a lot, so let's embrace the hyperbole and claim it anyway.
TRUSTING GOD TO FIGHT FOR YOU
Can you be confident God will fight for you? Yes you can. The rest of the 'Be Still' scripture goes like this: "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." God will be exalted, and nothing and nobody can stop him. He will fight for his children, because it glorifies and exalts himself. He will fight for you, O Sons and Daughters of the Living God, oh yeah, he'll fight for you. You just have to be still and stop thrashing about the boat. You have to relax your arms and stop letting the wind jolt your steering. You have to BE STILL.
Is there a storm in your life at the moment? Someone reading this has a wind that is pounding at their chest. You've been holding on for dear life and your grip is weakening, your hands are sore and you've been blown all over the road. If you let any more blasts of wind jolt your steering you’re going to go over. I want to encourage you to relax your grip and try faith over fear. Keep those arms floppy and trust Christ to pull you through.
So try something different today: loosen your grip, despite your instinct telling you to tighten it.
Ride the storm instead of resisting it. As you ride the storm, you move from fear into faith. Put on Christ's strength and power rather than your own and watch awestruck as he fights for you. I can guarantee you'll experience something unusual—peace. That’s why the Bible calls it a "peace that surpasses understanding," because it doesn't match your circumstances. For you've put on the imperishable, the impenetrable, the immovable.
The very creator of the universe is fighting for you.
RIDING THE STORM
As you ride the storm, choose faith over fear.
As you ride the storm, be still and know who your God is.
As you ride the storm, know that God will fight for you.
As you ride the storm, know that your God will be exalted in the earth.
As you ride the storm, know that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.
As you ride the storm, know that if he is for you, who can be against you?
Stay tuned for the next post on flipping the fear/faith coin. In the meantime, be still.
Exodus 14:14
Psalm 46:10
Matthew 8:23-27
Phillipians 4:6-7
