Keep Moving - Fueled by Faith

Lord, tame my tongue but fuel my heart. 

Fueled by faith…

Recently, I heard a song I’ve heard many times before and yet, I  listened differently. While the lyrics sang about riptides, I sat, reflecting on those currents in life. First of all, I thought about the leaps of faith despite the fears. And how, no matter what we face, a new relationship or the ending of one, a new opportunity or the return of a familiar one, or whatever it is…

We don’t need to be pulled into the ways of the world…

into the fears or the cycles of negativity 

into the tides that will keep us stuck or spinning 

Instead, God is our rescue.♡

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (Isaiah‬ ‭46‬:‭4‬)

But like many things in life, often it is a choice. In this case, do we want to be rescued? 

I remember years ago being faced with this challenging question and while my words said one thing, my actions at the time and patterns showed another. It was 2016-2017 for me when I came face-to-face with that choice to put the words I was learning and knew to be true into action. Faith in action…

My mind had been a battleground that I was too comfortable with. How can a place of battle be used in the same sentence as comfort? 

Words that were not good took root and turned into actions and habits. I wasn’t happy but stuck in my own limitations. I allowed fear to think it had a hold of me. Fear can’t hold me, or any of us. Only God can. He carries. He holds. He loves. 

God is limitless. He is our rescue. No matter what we face… God is greater!  

So how did it change? How did I get pulled out of the riptides of my mind, the battlefield that I had grown both comfort with and yet exhausted with…

It came to a choice… a decision on my part. It was always there. God is always there. Honestly, for the longest time I sat in the past of what was done to me or not done until God made it loud and clear the choice He gave me. 

It was up to me to decide the life I wanted. God was there waiting.

It was a leap of faith for me. For an outsider it was probably “common sense” but from deep inside the currents of those inner battles, it took faith. It took trust. It took reading my Bible and spending time with God to learn about Him. It took knowing God, to know His character and that He did not ever leave me. Instead, I just chose to believe lies as truth for too long.

Feelings are unreliable. God is dependable.

God’s loving invitations do not come with a timer. They come with love. 

God can do it! Pray and believe! It does not matter how long we run away from Him, He is there. Reach out and grab Hope.

He is our Rescue!

Let’s be fueled by faith, by truth and love. But how though?

♡ Get quiet. Talk to God. Pray. And pray some more. Spend time in the Bible each day. Wake up and thank Him for the new day!

Thank You God for this new day!

Or even this… thank you God for this new moment! 

♡ Ask, listen & follow (be transformed). 

♡ Anticipate what He is doing. By grabbing hold of His rescue, we are not giving up anything. Instead, we are surrendering to Him… to rest and to live. 

Let’s chat about anticipation though… 

Anticipation has always been the most challenging part for me. The part right before the act… the part right before the step… the part where my overthinking can try to get the best of me or

I can trust God knows the best for me.

Do you relate? While I must recognize it, I don’t like to continue talking about the negative. That doesn’t mean ignore it either, thinking it will “magically” vanish. Instead… let’s acknowledge it and fight with faith. 

What does that mean? 

To fight in with faith 

To fight in faith - to give it to God.

For me, I have learned to do this and it has truly helped so much… 

Pause! Pray! Pivot if need be.

You know the acronym HALT commonly used for recognizing states that we should be aware of before reacting? (Hungry-angry-lonely-tired) Checking in with oneself about these factors before reacting is important and helps to prevent negative effects. 

While that is extremely helpful, I find this to be a helpful tool in responding and fighting back with faith. ALT ♡

Ask-Listen-Transform 

(Let’s ALTer our focus from the fear and turn to HOPE instead.)

♡Ask: Talk to God about it. Like… “I am feeling fearful about… I don’t want to feel this... “ Confessing it brings relief. We don’t need to carry it when God offers to carry us. 

♡ Listen: Turn to God for the answers and guidance... time and time again. He will provide time and time again. Let’s be like David in the Bible when he… “inquired of the Lord.”

“so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.” So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.” (‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

♡ Transformation: Follow what God guides you to do. Face it how God equips you to. Fight with and in faith. Maybe it’s speaking a scripture truth over the lie or fear, or maybe it is acting and doing something He is asking you to do. “Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” (Psalm 119‬:‭34‬) 

We can teach our kids this too! Episode 25 on the podcast gives some examples of how to do so. 

We all need to learn how to take captive thoughts… and to turn doubt, fear, and worry into opportunities to lean into  hope, faith, and love.

We all need to learn to take captive the negative thought as soon as we can.

Think about it…

Stealing something is probably not a thought that enters our mind and if it did, we would quickly… turn it away. We would not entertain it. It would not be allowed into our mind and definitely not allowed to linger there.

What about the self-doubt?

The fear?

The worry?

We must do the same. Do not allow it. Let’s call this the Rs strategy.

Recognize it.

Repent if needed. 

Reflect with God.

Reject it.

Replace it!

Right away! 

Rejoice in God. 

Sometimes, we won’t have words. The feelings will overshadow them. In those times, we can say Jesus. Jesus, thank You. 

Give it to God. Hallelujah! He is our peace.  

On another note, when faced with negativity or unfair treatment or whatever it is, we need to consciously be aware of how we react. Maybe we don’t shout back at that person or thing directly BUT do we allow it to overflow into our relationships with others?

So here are some questions to think and pray about, and today’s The Art of a Messy House reflection: 

Am I allowing the fears or negativity to shift my focus?

Am I allowing someone else’s words to become my own?

Or am I standing on God’s Word to guide and fuel me?

Let’s turn back if needed. Let’s fix our focus on our fuel, our fire, our purpose … on love.  

Lord, tame my tongue and fuel my heart to be on fire for you! In Jesus’ name, Amen! 

Today is a new day! 

Right now is a new moment! 

Let’s do what God has before us to do, in God strength and for His glory. Let’s keep moving. 

Waiting is moving too.

Moving to grow better in the waiting.

Not faltering in the fickle feelings or even the ones that linger but submitting them all to God. Trusting Him. 

Knowing this time is helping us know Him deeper.

In my own life, I’m excited though these next steps are not the ones I had drafted or wished for in my own planning, they are His. And I know His promises are true. His ways are greater no matter how I feel.

So let’s keep praying. Let’s keep moving with those prayers… 

Pray. Step.

Pray. Step.

Pray. Step.

Trusting and knowing and resting, in full anticipation of what God is doing! 

Who’s with me?

Speak Truth (God’s Truth) over whatever lie it is… and slow down to start and/or maintain good habits and a healthy lifestyle. And capture those thoughts, 

surrendering them and it ALL to God.

Reach out to Him, our Rescue.

He is always there, waiting for us to stop treading in our own strength and let Him carry us through.

Prayer by prayer

Step by step 

Dear God,

You are everything. We give this day to You. We lift up everything and surrender it all to You. Lead us Lord. Help us renew our minds in Your Truth. Break strongholds and chains. Set captives free. We take heart because no matter what we face, You have overcome it. And we thank You that through it all, You wrap us in Your love. In Jesus, name, Amen. 

“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

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