In our last article, we saw how the Word of God can be compared to a strong vessel, sailing the rough seas of life. We as believers are passengers on this vessel. The Word of God is vital to us as it helps us to navigate the tumultuous times that life can bring. In these times, as a mature Christian, we must hold steadfast to God’s promises. It is very dangerous to become weary and impatient, which can lead us to rebel against God. I can tell you from experience, this only prolongs the storm. The enemy wants you to let go of your trust in God during these times. The enemy knows your weaknesses and will play on them relentlessly in hopes that you will give in to your fears. There are many ways to go through the storm with Christ, but I want to focus on three key areas to keep us enduring when endurance is needed. These three things are; awareness, proclamation and renewal.
If we revisit the encounter the disciples had while with Jesus in the storm in Mark chapter 4 we see that the waves from the rough sea beat into the ship. It is necessary for us to have faith, but we have to be aware that the storm will periodically rock your mental state. Do not run away from it, acknowledge its presence, but continue in faith and know that these incoming waves will not be the end of me. Faith in God is enough to thwart any difficulty that is threatening your livelihood. Be careful that the waves drown out your belief. We don’t have to carefully observe the difficulty, as this can put too much focus on the problem and not the solver, but it’s important to know that the situation will rock the boat from time to time, but your strength of faith will prevent you from sinking. Hold on.
The main battle is fought in your mind. Every time the boat rocks the enemy will place doubts in your mind that can discourage you. Any thought that doesn’t bring about peace, or remind you of your victory is not aligned with the Word of God. Some of these thoughts come from the enemy himself. “I don’t think I can make it out of this,” this is a lie straight from the accuser. You have to counter these lies with the written Word of God. If we observe Jesus’ response to the devil when tempted, we see He answered by saying first “It is written…” The enemy has no response for the truths written about us in God’s Word pertaining to our every need. In order to combat these negative thoughts we must proclaim the Word of God in our situation. For example if the enemy bombards you saying “You are not strong enough to make it through this, everybody is so much better than you…” we can reply with “It is written in Jeremiah 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”
Finally, another practice we can do to continually strengthen our belief in God’s ability to bring us out of our difficulties is renewal. For me, in the storm I’m currently facing, I partake in renewal every two days. Renewal can include reading over God’s promises for your life, giving thanks and remembering past storms He brought you through or reading about His miraculous power documented in the Old and New Testament. This can recharge your faith batteries as sometimes the difficulties can overwhelm you. In this weakened state the enemy can prey on you and encourage you to stop believing altogether. Renewal is key, and keep us from being rebellious and over ran by the enemy who is happy to see your belief drained day by day. Keep your faith batteries full by partaking in renewal as often as possible.
Another very important thing about the going through difficult periods is the timing of God. This is a very difficult part of the process. During my storms, I seeked God, who gave me strength and revelations. I would get so excited about the things that He revealed that I took the revelation and applied to the current situation and built up a fervent expectancy that my situation will end very soon and it will be smooth sailing again. After a few days I would realize that I'm still in the storm. This shot my confidence and my exuberance down to zero. The mistake I made, was using God's Word to fit my own timing. This is wrong, please do not make the same mistake I made. Yes we are to have faith that this too will come to past, but we have to hold on until God delivers us. He does the deliverance, not us. So we must continually put into practice the three steps above, while leaving the timing completely in God's hands.
If we revisit the encounter the disciples had while with Jesus in the storm in Mark chapter 4 we see that the waves from the rough sea beat into the ship. It is necessary for us to have faith, but we have to be aware that the storm will periodically rock your mental state. Do not run away from it, acknowledge its presence, but continue in faith and know that these incoming waves will not be the end of me. Faith in God is enough to thwart any difficulty that is threatening your livelihood. Be careful that the waves drown out your belief. We don’t have to carefully observe the difficulty, as this can put too much focus on the problem and not the solver, but it’s important to know that the situation will rock the boat from time to time, but your strength of faith will prevent you from sinking. Hold on.
The main battle is fought in your mind. Every time the boat rocks the enemy will place doubts in your mind that can discourage you. Any thought that doesn’t bring about peace, or remind you of your victory is not aligned with the Word of God. Some of these thoughts come from the enemy himself. “I don’t think I can make it out of this,” this is a lie straight from the accuser. You have to counter these lies with the written Word of God. If we observe Jesus’ response to the devil when tempted, we see He answered by saying first “It is written…” The enemy has no response for the truths written about us in God’s Word pertaining to our every need. In order to combat these negative thoughts we must proclaim the Word of God in our situation. For example if the enemy bombards you saying “You are not strong enough to make it through this, everybody is so much better than you…” we can reply with “It is written in Jeremiah 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”
Finally, another practice we can do to continually strengthen our belief in God’s ability to bring us out of our difficulties is renewal. For me, in the storm I’m currently facing, I partake in renewal every two days. Renewal can include reading over God’s promises for your life, giving thanks and remembering past storms He brought you through or reading about His miraculous power documented in the Old and New Testament. This can recharge your faith batteries as sometimes the difficulties can overwhelm you. In this weakened state the enemy can prey on you and encourage you to stop believing altogether. Renewal is key, and keep us from being rebellious and over ran by the enemy who is happy to see your belief drained day by day. Keep your faith batteries full by partaking in renewal as often as possible.
Another very important thing about the going through difficult periods is the timing of God. This is a very difficult part of the process. During my storms, I seeked God, who gave me strength and revelations. I would get so excited about the things that He revealed that I took the revelation and applied to the current situation and built up a fervent expectancy that my situation will end very soon and it will be smooth sailing again. After a few days I would realize that I'm still in the storm. This shot my confidence and my exuberance down to zero. The mistake I made, was using God's Word to fit my own timing. This is wrong, please do not make the same mistake I made. Yes we are to have faith that this too will come to past, but we have to hold on until God delivers us. He does the deliverance, not us. So we must continually put into practice the three steps above, while leaving the timing completely in God's hands.