Victory Not Defeat

“You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy.”
Psalm 65:5-8

I have been struggling with a phrase that we’ve been using a lot lately, at work and everyday life. The phrase is “It is what it is.” Don’t get me wrong there are times when something is indeed “it is what it is” but sometimes it’s just a phrase to say something nice instead of what you are really thinking - do you know what I mean? Anyway, I’ve been struggling with it and praying about it. That’s when that still small voice whispered that we needed to stop accepting defeat and claim the victory that as followers of Christ we know we have.

About the time when I got the message that we shouldn’t just be saying “it is what it is” when we are frustrated, disappointed or even angry – I happened upon the videos of Heather Land – I Ain’t Doin It. Each of Heather’s short videos are hilarious, truthful and end with the statement “I ain’t doin it.” For a while anytime someone said “it is what it is” I would respond with “I ain’t doin it”. But that was only partly overriding the defeating words of the other phrase. Ok – I know I’m rambling – but you know I try to be real with these – so the struggle is real my friends. Then the phrase that really does override the - it stinks and there’s nothing we can do about it, feeling the defeat of “it is what it is” popped into my head. What’s the magic phrase that speaks of victory not defeat? “My God can move mountains.” Yep – He can and he can still the wind and the waves and my weary soul and your weary soul too.

According to the Psalm of Dave that I took the above passage from, He hears us and responds with awesome deeds of righteousness. He is God our Savior, He is hope, He made the mountains and by His strength He can move them or help us to move them. He is the One who puts joyful songs on our mouths, even in the midst of life’s many storms.

Life is still going to be hard – a bad report from the doctor, difficult people in our lives, projects that turnout to be more difficult than we thought – in all of this and so much more, we do not have walk in discouragement. Because our God can move mountains - we can walk in victory not defeat.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for putting humor in our lives, especially in the midst of storms. Thank you for how You choose to respond to us with mercy, grace, love and strength. Thank you for the victory we have in You. Thank you for moving the mountains that need to be moved or for giving us the strength to climb over it or journey through the valley. Help to remember in those moments when “it is what it is” is on our hearts and expressed in word – that we should follow it with “my God can move mountains” so that we live in victory not defeat. In the name of Jesus, who has made us victorious – Amen.

Get Your Hands Up

“Therefore. I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:1-3

Some of you know that once upon a time when I was younger, I spent ten years working at a Department of Energy research facility as a security contractor. Federal arrest authority, special response team training, pursuit driving, proficient with multiple weapons and fully prepared to do whatever might be needed in order to protect the facility, the people and the research. We were trained to yell “GET YOUR HAND UP!” as we confronted a subject. If their hands went up and they complied with our next instructions, we would take it as a sign of surrender with the understanding the arrest would likely happen without further incident. Around the world police shout for subjects to get their hands up, to surrender to their authority. I was thinking about this as I started reading Romans chapter 12.

Paul writing to the followers of Christ in Rome opens chapter 12 in some ways with “Get Your Hands Up” statement. Calling on the audience of his time and to us today to offer our bodies as living sacrifices – to surrender our lives in a way that is holy and pleasing to God. In my opinion this is not a once and done sort of call, this is a daily call on our lives as believers.

Every day we need to lay down our lives, our sense of what’s right and not right and allow our minds to be made new. To allow our minds, our hearts, our eyes, our ears to see and hear the world and respond to it according to God’s standard of right and wrong, God’s expectation of worship, God’s standard of mercy and grace.

We need to renew our sacrifice, our act of surrender daily cause let’s face it sometimes the world and its trappings look pretty inviting. But the strains of the old song “This world is not my home I’m just a passing through” ring true for those who have surrendered their lives for the new life offered by Jesus.

How do we do that, how do we get our hands up and lay our lives down? There are lots of ways and they all work together. Read God’s Word and take it to heart. Listen to music that speaks of His goodness, power and love. Treat people well, even when they are mean to you. Show mercy and grace as opportunities arise. Pray, pray, pray that the Holy Spirit will give you direct and guide every step you make. Allow God to give you an attitude adjustment when you need it and to prune you so you can grow and bear more fruit. Finally, share all the amazing things God has done for you with those around you so that He will be glorified and they might decide to follow Jesus.

A Prayer
Father – forgive your people when we choose to live like we have surrendered to this world. Remind us of the grace and mercy You showed us when we first believed and decided to follow Jesus. Help us Lord, every day to get our hand up and lay our lives down as living sacrifices. May we serve you with humble and overflowing hearts and with minds that have been made new. In the name of Jesus, who laid down His life so that we could truly live – Amen.