The Sovereign Lord Wants You to Remain Flexible

The Sovereign Lord Wants You to Remain Flexible

by rebekahbeene

 

One day this week we had some unusual weather – sun, rain, thunder, winds. And all this within moments. The trees were creaking and the limbs were falling. When I got home I noticed that we had a “widow maker” in our yard. One of our trees is in pretty bad shape and a huge limb had falling, breaking up into smaller pieces as it hit the ground. The trees that are in good shape all made it fine without much more than a leaf or two of new growth flying away. But this old near dead tree didn’t fare so well.

God wants you to know that His desire for you is that you remain healthy and flexible. Your spiritual health is His greatest concern. He knows that as long as you can bend in the weather of life’s circumstances, which are constantly changing, you won’t break. Being flexible is important to Him too, because you can’t see the road ahead. He knows what’s around the next curve in life and He has prepared a way to make it. But if you break under the stress you’ll never get past the present hurts or disasters to see the better way. High winds of adversity, strong storms of trouble, the thundering load of sorrow were never meant to destroy you. The bending of your life is not meant to humiliate you, but humble responses to God’s Sovereignty are needed. Bending your knee to seek His face when things are going wrong will always result in new growth and greater strength.

Oh beloved, you’ve weathered quite a bit haven’t you? It’s tiring to keep up appearances and make sure all around you is neat and tidy. But you’re starting to wonder where God is and you want to just let it all go. Believing is easy when things are going well, but when those winds howl at your extremities and bit at your heart and mind it weakens the best resolve. Now is your time to bend – bend to the Truth of God’s Word. Bend to the Sovereignty of God, bend to the knowledge that God is still God and He has your best interest in mind. He will get you through, you can stay in one piece, you don’t have to lose ground or lose faith. Rejoice in His Truth, hide in His love and watch as you come through more understanding and knowledge of God after all.

God loves you and He’s for you. His desire is that nothing would break your spirit but that leaning and bending towards Him will always result in your good and His glory. Trust Him today, give Him your troubles, let Him shelter you, guide you, watch over you and protect you all the days of your life. When this storm passes, you will be able to share the Truth with another who will need to know just what you’ve learned about God and about the strength you can display as you set your heart toward God.

Psalm 27:7-8 Listen to my pleading, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard You say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.”

Psalm 59:17 O my Strength, to You I sing praises, for You, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.

Isaiah 50:5 The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I do not rebel or turn away.

Psalm 69:32 The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help live in joy.

You CAN Walk in FREEDOM!

We watched a rerun of King Kong the other day. The newest version really shows the gorilla as a fierce creature much more realistic than the 1930’s version. His fierceness was overshadowed only by his strength.  Yet for all his strength, he was finally subdued by his enemies. The captors penned him down with enough ropes and strong medicine to knock him out. Their elaborate plan to capture him finally worked, even though he fought them, even though he was stronger, fiercer and bigger.

The word says that the believer is strong and invincible in the face of trials and troubles. We are referred to as more than conquerors and overcomers by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies. We are instructed to walk in freedom and be valiant warriors for God.     

Yet the enemy of our soul has an elaborate plan to capture us. Regardless of the promise of spiritual strength to overcome we will fall if we’re not careful. The enemy, our would-be captor, has a cunningly devised plan.  This plan is clever, artful, and ingenious and he has worked hard inventing, developing and formulating the plan.   

Unlike King Kong, who was finally captured, we do not have to succumb to the tactics of the enemy. He’s crafty but we have the Holy Spirit residing in us. This gives us great advantage in the fights of our lives, our hearts, our minds.  As we daily surrender ourselves to God, and declare our dependence on Him alone, we are able to overcome whatever is thrown at us.

While the enemy doesn’t cause every problem in our lives, he certainly wants to take credit for it and use it to his advantage.  If we are angry and we let that anger rule our lives we are submitting to a rope across our back. If we are discouraged and we don’t allow God to replace it with His courage we’ll find another rope has been slung across us.  I would dare say that fear is probably three ropes – fear will tie you down all by itself. Fear of man, fear of failure, fear of the future – none of these are meant to live in our minds, yet without God’s touch we all have fear. The list of ropes goes on and on: disappointment, tragedy, trials, turmoil, sorrow, unbelief…

Thanks be to God the lover of our soul has a plan as well! His plan includes praise, worship and freedom. His plan keeps us safe, keeps us free of terrors and lets us live without concern of the enemy. We don’t have to be taken captive as we learn to apply God’s Word to every situation that comes our way. Ropes are designed to capture us, but we can use them as walkways to greater living.    God’s plan of living even includes rescue when we’ve let ourselves be captured!  He will not allow us to remain captive unless we choose to. He is our Redeemer, Savior and Friend and His Spirit is strong on our behalf to break every chain and loose every bondage we’ve ever had. Brute force, natural strength won’t relieve you, redeem you or set you free. But God’s power is the overcoming victory for every believer.

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life! That plan includes walking in freedom no matter what road you are on. It includes walking in strength and power of the Holy Spirit even in the jungles of life.  God is wooing you with His Word this morning to listen and live free. He will lovingly untie every fetter that seeks to control you and keep you down as you give each one to Him.  He’ll even take away the fear of the only natural enemy you have – satan – and replace it with His assurance. You never have to walk in dread of capture as long as you walk in the light of His Word.

God loves you and He’s for you and He provided your ultimate freedom on the Cross so that you can live free and in the power of His might all the days of your life!

Isaiah 43:1-3 Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.   When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.  When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.  When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Psalm 119:45 I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.

Psalm 59:17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.

Psalm 18:1 I love You, Lord; You are my strength.

Psalm 18:39 You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued my enemies under my feet.

Psalm 89:15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of Your presence, Lord.