Going with the flow is what most people do, and it doesn’t take much mental and emotional discipline to live this way. A ‘take it as it comes’ kind of lifestyle has crept into the psyche of many people. The danger is that we might begin to assign things to God’s character and nature that are not true. God is not a puppeteer, moving us around like puppets. Our lives are not pre-written scripts that we have no other choice but to follow. That’s not how Heavenly Father setup life to work, and it is a very big mistake for us to slip into this kind of thinking.
Going back to the very beginning with Adam and Eve, we know from the bible that they made a colossal mistake. God gave them a commandment concerning The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He told them in Genesis 2:16-17(NLT), “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” God’s Word is true! As His spiritual children, a fully-persuaded belief in His Word is non-negotiable. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that we cannot please God if we don’t have faith in Him. We must trust that He is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do.
As humans, our capability is severely limited, but through the strength of Christ, Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things. Even people that do not know the truth of this verse will trust that they can achieve extraordinary feats in life. They may not know that spiritual strength is the greatest strength of all, and that it comes from Christ. They may not realize that he will empower them exponentially, beyond their capabilities; but still they trust in their own brute and mental prowess to accomplish goals and success in life. Some people have great physical strength, but no spiritual strength. Others may have tremendous spiritual strength, but may not be as physically strong as they’d like to be. The point is, we have faith in our abilities to some extent, and we are able to accomplish much because of this.
As Christians, you and I are here upon this earth to make a difference for God’s Kingdom. It’s not only about the goals that we can accomplish for ourselves. We are called to impact the lives of others. The only way we’re going to get things done is to trust the Lord. God has given us this tool called ‘faith’ so that we can be effective no matter what obstacles and adversity comes against us. A young aspiring gymnast may look at a winning Olympic athlete and gain confidence. A gold medal becomes achievable to this young person because they’ve actually witnessed, through television or media, that someone has achieved this benchmark. Well, God wants us to know that our faith in His love doesn’t have a limit. What we can accomplish through faith in Christ doesn’t have limitations, and what we gain is far more valuable than a medal or a trophy. The more we trust God’s Word, the more we can accomplish and conquer for His Kingdom, and the more fulfilling and blessed our lives will be. This is one of the reasons it is critical that we’re sold-out when it comes to trusting God and believing His Word.
Going with the flow might cause us to abdicate our responsibility to fight the good fight of faith. We might allow the enemy to just steal our joy and blessings, and acquiesce under the pressure. That’s not the way of Christ! Adam and Eve showed us what it looks like to lose this fight. They fell. Their disobedience is called ‘The Fall of Man’ because the treasure of what they lost was immeasurable. The devil told them that God lied, and that they would not die if they ate of The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve took the devil’s word over God’s Word, and the result of this was nothing short of catastrophic.
When we go with the flow, take life as it comes, there’s a pretty good chance that we’re missing an opportunity to train our minds in faith. If bad things happen to us, we can’t simply say, “Well, that’s the way things are, and I have to accept it.” This line of thinking may prompt us or others to believe that God wants bad things to happen, or that He uses them to punish us. Heavenly Father wants us to believe His promises, and trust that His power is at work within us. He’s created us to be intelligent, thinking, reasoning, and spiritually productive people. Just because we’re down doesn’t mean He wants us to remain that way. Through Christ, we can get back up and trust God’s provision. So instead of going with the flow, we need to stand in faith, recognizing that opposition may come, but through Christ we are victorious in every way. We must continue to fight the good fight of faith in our minds and hearts, and believe the promises of God, no matter what we face.■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Stand in Faith, Don’t Go with the Flow”, written by JMack. 4theChristianMan.Com© 2018. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.