How to Go Further Faster

Our society is running on fumes emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. This present reality makes fuel of the utmost importance — not just in quantity, but also quality.

Great fuel will help you go further, faster! The same is true of our souls. Paul said, “What a man sows, he will also reap.” In other words, what we “put in” directly affects what comes out.

My son loves sports. And, I’ve watched as Dawson has grown; he excels the most when he is encouraged. Strong criticism stalls his engine, but words of affirmation accelerate his passion.

His father is very similar! For years, I got up in the morning to prove people wrong; it’s what “fueled” me. But that “bad fuel” took its toll on my engine; eventually, it stalled out. Then came the epiphany. Sitting in the pits of my pity party — watching people race by — it was not the critics that helped me re-fire my engine. It was the encouragers!

I have since learned that encouragement is like high-octane fuel! The emails, texts, phone calls, or mentions in status updates from positively impacted lives are the people you get up for every morning. They are the reason you don’t quit!

Encouragement = The action of giving someone support or confidence.

Who do you know that needs some encouragement? Stranded on the side of life’s highway, they’ve run out of gas, or their engine is stalled from too many miles of running on bad fuel. Go pour in the fuel of encouragement and watch them take off again!

‘Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.’ (‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭11‬ ESV)

And, if by some chance, it is you stalled out, and you just saw this little billboard of a blog… Know that it is not impossible to encourage yourself! You may have to “take a walk” to do it, but David exemplified that when everyone else has left you, God is never nearer.

‘And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved… but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’ (1 Sam 30:6 KJV)

The Most Important Response To Anxiety

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭24-28‬ ESV)

Paul describes a life that had been -- both literally and figuratively -- storm-tossed on many occasions. His list includes a lot. It’s so much that it’s difficult to even establish a personal reference point with the totality of Paul’s suffering. Still, there is one thing that may connect, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Think about the context of Paul’s statement for a moment. He was dealing with Christian people, but anxiety was still present in the management of his relationships.

Have you ever experienced a storm of anxiety?

Perhaps, you often awake in the middle of the night, your heart fluttering with images from your day. Thoughts pass through your mind at the speed of light... You are just now realizing, something you said was most likely misunderstood. You forgot to send an imperative reply text to your boss. In all the hustle and bustle of your week, you completely forgot to pay the utility bill. Suddenly, you have an awareness of what your rival’s social media post really meant. Though you went to bed with it far from your mind, you’ve awakened with a deep concern for what the people around you think about you. You’re tossing and turning, wondering how you will manage your debt if the economy continues to trend downward. Something is troubling you and now your soul is disquieted.

I wonder again, have you ever been storm-tossed by Anxiety?

If you have been — or are now — I invite you to take hold of this Scriptural proclamation by faith, “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony…” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭11‬ ESV)

The word antimony may not be familiar to you, but its definition is quite powerful. The term represents a natural resource, which has a chemical property within it. Manufacturers use this chemical in flame-retardants. This insight brings to light what God is saying to you. He wants you to know, you may feel afflicted and storm-tossed, but, “I will not let your ship burn. You will not go down in flames!”

Take hold of that promise by faith, and find the same comfort that David did when he finally confronted the storm of anxiety in his soul, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted (storm-tossed) within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” (‭Psalms‬ ‭43‬:‭5‬ NKJV)

The most critical response to a storm of anxiety? Hope in God. Because when you choose this response, your ship will not go down in flames!

Hindsight is 2020

Hindsight is defined as understanding a situation or event only after it has happened or developed. As you look back on 2020, are there things you can say that you got right? Are there things that you got wrong? After all, Hindsight is... 2020.

As we move forward into 2021, we can find hope knowing that God gives us the ability to eliminate what we got wrong while empowering us to enhance what we got right. In His grace, He opens our eyes to hindsight, which allows for insight that better brings into focus our foresight for the future.

Dive into this message with Pastor Eric as he encourages us not to miss what God has for us tomorrow by missing the altar of today.

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV)

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