“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things!” Joel 2:21
Following Christ is a wonderful commitment when you have faith and patience in him. We must sustain this mantra in good times and in bad. It’s easy to practice our walk with Christ when we’re feeling positive about ourselves but what happens when things aren’t so positive? Do we hang on to the word or do we allow them to slide down like expired magnetic letters on a fridge? How many times do we let daily hassles distract us from our purpose? Quite often it’s not the big things that derail us, but the accumulation of small things that make us feel the Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, and Stress. (FUDS) This FUDS place your mind in a negative feedback loop and furthermore, prompts an avoidance towards these feelings by masking them away or chasing a temporary escape through unhealthy addictions or coping mechanisms. Unfortunately, the retreat is short lived and the FUDS will be waiting for you once again.
While it’s normal to feel negative experiences with God, we don’t have to embrace them alone. We must be mindful that God is our anchor, He will never let us drown in the ocean. Even if your situation leaves you stranded understand that sometimes what seems like destruction is God’s way of rebuilding your foundation. Faith expands the spirit while fear shrinks it.
Take the walking on water parable for example. Peter did not experience the supernatural power of God until he trusted Him. But when fear arose in Peter’s spirit, he sank in the sea. Notice how quickly Peter lost faith even with Jesus being physically visible to him. So you can imagine how easy it can be for us to lose faith. Sometimes we’re Peter in this situation; unbelievably struggling in the water, helplessly holding our hand out like our creator isn’t there to save us. But as we read in (Matthew 14:31,) immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You men of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Little faith is better than no faith but we are capable of so much more. Even when we fail His test of little faith, Jesus rescues us.
We serve an omnipresent God. He’s not only everywhere, he’s also around us and lives in our hearts. It’s amazing what we can do if we will trust God enough to step out of our comfort zones! – Brett Harris . John 3: 31-32 says: “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony”.
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