This week we continue the series of Fighting Your Battles by Jonathan Evans. This week we learn about preparation for our future. We might think we have things under control and are well prepared, but Jesus warns us about getting to a point where we do things our way, or His way. We can easily slip into a mode of thinking we have it all together.
Jonathan points out some great truths in reference to the two building a house, on on the sand and one on the rock; both good and bad people want to build a house. both good and bad will face storms. But you can tell how wise they are in the middle of the storm. How one handles themselves is rooted in their preparation.
Main Idea
- If you’re not in a difficult season right now, you will be soon. Your faith is going to be tested to see if it will stand. Those words aren’t to scare us but to prepare us, so that we’re building our lives and our faith on solid rock.
- We must build our foundation now, before the storm comes, making sure our blueprint is based on God’s Word.
- Storms make us susceptible, they make us feel vulnerable, but also, they reveal where we really stand and what we’re building on. They make it evident who we serve and who we trust: ourselves or the Lord.
- It’s not enough to build on God’s Word. We have to operate by it, doing what it says even when it says things we don’t like. There will be times when acting on it makes us feel vulnerable in the battle, but our vulnerability creates a vacancy. A vacancy that gives God room to maneuver so that victory can be won.
It’s time to prepare for the forecast now, not later. Because our faith is going to be tested. And the one whose house will still be standing rock-solid after the storm is the one who has built on God’s Word and who acts on God’s Word.
Watch Right Now Media – Session 5
Jonathan opens the session by sharing about a question that people have often asked after all the losses he and his family have endured in the past few years: “How is the world are you still standing?” His answer: “It all boils down to a foundation that was constructed way before the storm showed up” — a foundation of weekly devotions in God’s Word around the family dinner table.
Did your family (whether Christian or not) have any foundational habits or traditions that grounded you while you were growing up, either as a person or in your faith? What were they, and how have they helped you stand strong in rough weather?
Were there ways to handle things taught to you or experienced that has caused you problems through storms? How did you recognize them, what did you do or are you doing to take corrective action?
James 1:22 commands us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. This is essential to building a strong foundation. Too many people, though, try to skip this step.
As Jonathan describes it, being a hearer only like a Coke or Sprite that’s been sitting too long — loses it’s fizz, we are the same way, we can lose our spiritual vibrancy. What are some other things a person loses or even misses out on, when they only listen to the Word but don’t act on it?
Another problem with losing our fizz, according to Jonathan, is that we become lukewarm. What’s God’s response to lukewarm faith, according to Revelation 3:15-16?
I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! – Revelation 3:15-16
Why do you think the Lord would prefer even a cold heart over a lukewarm heart?
Later in the video, Jonathan cites Joshua’s second battle against Ai as an example of hearing and following God’s commands even when God’s plan doesn’t make sense to our sensibilities. God wanted Joshua and a few thousand of his men to pretend they were losing and run from the entrance of the city of Ai so that once Ai’s men were lured away, the rest of Israel’s army could ambush Ai from a different direction.
When has the Holy Spirit ever directed you to step back so that God could step in?
How did that instruction make you feel at first?
If you did what God said — in spite of your instincts, and how you felt about it, and what it looked like to others — how did your willingness to be vulnerable to God’s Word confuse your enemy and make them vulnerable?
Besides what it does to the enemy, what are some other good reasons for getting out of God’s way and letting Him win our battles however He wants to?
Conclusion
We must remember that storms will come, we don’t have to dread them. Continue to build and maintain a good foundation on the Rock of Christ, and be faithful in preparations. If you are one that is being asked to step back so He can step in, pray for greater faith to trust His power, His timing, and His path to victory.