The Enemy Taunts All Day but God is Our Support

When life is a jumble of chaos, what sustains your energy to press forward or inward? When stresses are at the height of uncertainty and your emotions are at the brink of breakdown, what keeps your reaction God-honoring? What wind do you fill your sails of life with so that you maintain your course and withstand the storms with victory?

My husband and I watched a great movie last night, Seven Days in Utopia. Landing in the small town of Utopia after blowing his pro golf debut, Luke finds himself in the schoolroom of an old rancher who teaches him success from God’s view instead of his own fleeting talent.  

Talents, personal gifts, and achievements are temporary if accomplished through one’s own strength and power. Yet, if the following truths given by the old rancher in this movie are heeded, we find that our soul reaches higher feats than we may have originally thought to pursue. The old rancher teaches that there are four practices needed in order to reach success: 

• Convictions
• Rhythm  
• Balance
• Patience   

Convictions answer the why behind what we do. Rhythm keeps us in step with the Holy Spirit so we can work, rest and rejuvenate our soul. Balance allows God’s power to give us inner success even when we experience defeat. Patience gives us reason to ponder, plan, and push at the appropriate times.These four practices produce emotional control; they allow us to take life as it comes, and they keep us calm when we win and lose. 

I like the definition of SFT that the old rancher tells Luke. He says that Luke will find success in all things when he...

“Sees God’s face; Feels His presence, and Trusts His love.”

Life is filled with anxious uncertainty. We worry as we borrow time from today to solve tomorrow’s problems. When we do this, we end up losing the energy to solve our present challenges. We live in fear of tomorrow’s failures giving us no time to celebrate today's achievements. But life can be different for us. If we make a conscience effort to see God’s face above life’s challenges; if we take time to be still and feel His presence we can then appreciate the gift of today; if we trust His love expecting His promises to be true in our life, we can find peace instead of tension.

With conviction, I know “we can trust that God will reach down from on high and take hold of us and draw us out of the deep waters of anxious fear; we can be assured that God will rescue us from the powerful enemy of uncertainty that seems so strong to us; the enemy may taunt us all day, BUT THE LORD IS OUR SUPPORT! He will bring us into a spacious place where we are rescued. And why does God do all this for us? For one reason only: He delights in you and me!” (Psalm 18:16-18 adapted).   

Trusting in the fleeting winds of this world only leads to sails that are tattered and torn, but trusting in the winds of God’s power leads to accomplishments of sustaining value: we find faith, relationships, character and love. These are the winds in my sails and they sustain my journey; they keep my soul steady and strong.  My body is sure to follow if my soul leads with God’s power. 

How's Your Soul?

How are you? How’s your day? How’s your week? These are common superficial courtesy questions people ask each other on a regular basis. The question that John Wesley (founder of Methodism) would ask people was not so superficial. He would ask them pointedly, “How’s your soul?” Now this is a completely different question and one that requires us to stop and ponder.

What is the condition of your soul? Is it tired? Is it worn down? Is it downcast? Is it filled with peace? Or turmoil? Is your soul anxious? Content? Overwhelmed? Or at rest?

The decisions we make in our life actually affect the condition of our soul. The reason we can go so long without acknowledging our soul is because the soul seems so quiet and non-existent. However, this is far from the truth. Our soul lives forever, while our bodies have a short life. Yet, we often choose to hold the body up higher than the soul. And we suffer in both as a result.

When we make the decision to obey God’s commands, we choose to walk in His ways. What benefits does this choice bring us? If we stand at the crossroads (a place of decision), look to God and ask Him for His eternal paths (the good ways He designed for us to live) we will find rest for our souls!  (Jeremiah 6:16).

A rested soul is a stable soul. A stable soul is a successful soul. And a successful soul is a healthy soul. We often look for success in our bodies first, but what we don’t realize is when we find success in our souls first, we actually feed the body with victory. We must remember that the condition of our body is not nearly as important as the condition of our soul.  

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I AM gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus did not say we would find rest for our bodies; He said we would find rest for our souls. Jesus is more interested in our eternal state than He is about our physical. He knows that all physical components of this life will pass away. He knows that what will sustain us forever is a healthy soul. Whether our bodies are at peace or at war; in comfort or pain; health or sickness; death or life, a healthy soul will strengthen the inner man making the outer man endure whatever condition it finds itself. I often wonder how martyrs were able to endure such painful executions. I believe it’s because they had healthy souls.

To walk with God means to walk in His ways. To walk in His ways is to follow His word; obeying it to the letter helps us to know God intimately as a good friend knows another. This intimate friendship of trust will guard our soul and take it to new heights of health; we will find refreshment, shalom, life, and truth - all made complete in us. Suddenly the external chaos around us will seem insignificant because our soul is guiding our life. I ask you, “How is your soul? What do you need to do to strengthen and feed it?”

May I make a suggestion? Stop your life for a time each day; pray and linger in your relationship with the Lord; soak in the word of God until it completes your life; stand up, and choose to walk in what you have learned from your Father in heaven. You will find rest for your souls if you do!