Life is A Vapor
You only live once. There was a popular book entitled “Live Your Best Life Now.” This popular pastor encouraged people to live life as if it were their last day on the earth. His premise was that since you are a child of God, he has given you abundant life; so, live your best life now. Though I did not agree with every argument and statement made in the book I do think he has a point. All too often we can allow our limitations, thoughts, and fears to control our lives’ outcomes.
There have been many dreams that have died and long been buried because of a lack of courage to explore and take calculated risks: to bring them to pass. Now, I was intentional about using the phrase calculated risk. I do not know about you, but I see a lot of people lacking understanding and taking risks that have not been vetted to their demise.
Look it is nothing wrong with acknowledging that you might be fearful. There is nothing wrong with communicating to the Father in heaven that you are lost and do not know what else to do. The problem is not that we fear, the problem happens when we allow our fear to cancel the plan of God in our lives.
Limited but Not Limited
The apostle Paul one of Jesus’ chief disciple said, “That God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 King James Version (KJV)
Wow! This is a powerful declaration. This passage of scripture should encourage us that fear should not be the determining factor when faced with difficulty. God is not the author of fear, but because of sin, the feeling of fear can be a challenge Do not get me wrong a healthy fear is good. But it is the fear that brings about a feeling of dread that we must be aware of. However, the good news is that, since fear does not originate from God, we possess the capacity of the Holy Spirit to overcome it. There have been dreams not realized, successes not claimed, and relationships that we failed to form because we allowed fear to speak louder than faith.
We must work to prevent fear’s influence in our lives. We face challenges daily: internal and external. These foes (fear, self-doubt, low self-esteem, self-hatred) possess within them the power to derail our upper mobility and cause us to turn away from God’s blessing. Our advisory the Devil constantly reminds us of our limitations while using these internal triggers (fear, self-doubt, low self-esteem, depression, self-hatred) to deepen the internal conflict within.
When we allow our limitations to dictate our elevation, we accept the excuses of doubt, fear, and depression. Satan thrives in an atmosphere of depression, doubt, fear, and self-hate. He thrives in this atmosphere because when we are distracted from God then we are disconnected from his presence.
Jesus said , “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.
Mark 3:27 Easy To Read Version (ESV)
Satan wants to keep us tied up in our minds: crying woe is me. We fail to allow God’s light in when we focus on ourselves. You can liken this atmosphere to mold. Mold tends to thrive in areas that lack a healthy foundation. Mold loves wet and dark places that are void of adequate light. Think about it. We tend to be at our most vulnerable when we allow our minds to become playgrounds for darkness. This is what the enemy wants to do. He wants to sow tares amongst the wheat and weeds amongst the good seed.
Our Minds Gods Fertile Fields
Weeds can be dangerous to healthy plants. Weeds camouflage themselves to look like healthy plants. However, if you watch how weeds interact with healthy plants, you will see how deceptive weeds are. Weeds do not grow alongside plants they try to choke off healthy growth. They try to steal the nutrients from the healthy plants. This is what fear and doubt do; they choke off healthy growth and steal God’s healthy presence living inside you.
God is looking to plant seeds of growth, love, strength, confidence, and focus in the fields of our hearts. He wants to establish in us a firm foundation built on Jesus Christ. When we spend time in God’s word, prayer, and reflection and walk in obedience according to his will then we will see new growth. By standing firmly planted on Jesus Christ we can cultivate our fields and become stronger.
Make the most of every day by understanding your limitations, but not allowing yourself to be paralyzed by them. I believe that this can become a bad word, “limitations.” However, limitations are not a bad word it helps us to understand that we can do all things through Christ, and without him we are limited.
There Is Freedom In Trusting God
Set aside your fear and invest in God’s trust. Trust God with your seed and then plant that seed in the soil of his trust. The apostle Peter trusted God with his seed of faith. The Bible said that the apostle was on a boat in the middle of the sea. There arose a powerful storm and amid the storm, they saw Jesus walking on water. At first glance, they thought that Jesus was a ghost until the master called out to his disciples and calmed their fears. But this is where we must place our focus and it was Peter. He understood that though he was limited the God he served was limitless. So the Bible said that Peter walked up to the edge of the boat and said, Lord if it be you then tell me to come and then Jesus said, “COME!” Peter steps out of the boat on the word of Jesus and starts walking upon the water.
Just imagine the amazement of the other disciples looking on. Peter walks up to the edge of failure or success and then takes the leap. He steps into a less-than-ideal situation and prospers. He put all his chips on Jesus and began to walk on water. How miraculous was that? They lacked the courage to trust Jesus at the most difficult time in their lives and they missed their moment. How many times have we missed our moments because the situation was less than ideal? How many times have we allowed opportunity after opportunity to pass us by because we were gripped by fear and overtaken by the vicissitudes of life? The disciples in the boat missed their moment because they were paralyzed by fear.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water in a storm because he trusted Jesus and didn’t want to miss his moment. Ask God if it is okay for you to step out and step into your destiny. Just know that the conditions by which God may call you out of your boat will not always be ideal.
Conversely, though your situation is less-than-ideal your moment in the arms of Jesus is all the more important. Your conditions may not be comfortable but trust God to see you through it.
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