378 | Charge The Storm - part 3

Okay. Storms of life are inevitable. We know that. We know we're going to go through some things. Right? Even Jesus said, you know, in this world you will have trouble. So how are we going to go through that? What if we just charge forward, go through it and come out better on the other side? Wouldn't it be amazing? Well, guess what? That's exactly what we're going to do. Hello. Hello, my crazy blessed buddy. I'm so excited you're here with me because we are continuing the series called Charge the Storm recently, and actually all of 2022 was basically like the poop year. It was one of the hardest years. It's probably the hardest year of my life. And going through that. I'm grateful for going through that because of how I came out on the other side, how I'm stuck still coming out on the other side. But I want to share with you kind of this strategy that I discovered, this manner of going through crisis and, you know, tribulation and hardship, which we know we are going to experience now. It's not. The Christian life is not void of problems. What it is is void of suffering as a result of problems. That's what I want you to understand. Like, yes, it is a life of sunshine and roses and happiness and joy. Yes. But that's the mystery of the Christian life. How do we go through trials? How do we go through crisis and go through it with grace, joy, abundance and still show up? So that's what we're talking about. We're in a series called Charge the Storm. This is actually part three. And if you haven't listened or watched part one and two, go back and do that, but don't do it right now, because I have a feeling that God wants you here right now to understand this one step we're talking about today, and that's called choosing the direction. So he talked about how to face the wind, but this is. This is different. This is choosing the direction. So if you watched or listened to part one and part two, you know, I'm using this whole metaphor, really, of how a cow and a buffalo go through a storm. So really quickly, when a cow senses the storm is coming, it runs the opposite direction. It's scared of it. So it runs the opposite direction. And in doing so, makes the storm last longer because he's kind of running in the direction of the storm. So now he's in pain longer. It's more frustrating. It's more exhausting. And a buffalo, however, when a buffalo senses that a storm is coming, what a Buffalo will do is face the storm and run in the direction charges the storm, thereby making it last a shorter time and coming out of it quicker, of course. So this is what we're talking about. We're talking about basically a strategy, plan, how we're going to go through crisis. Because the last thing we need to do, and this is what I see a lot of people do, is we face a crisis and we go dark, right? We hide. And yes, there are. There's times when we have to retreat and kind of just go dark and center ourselves. But isolation happens. So we're going through a crisis, grief, even a crisis of faith, right? We have a tendency to go dark, hide. And that can make the storm last longer and it's damaging because that's a fear. Fear response, right? I'm scared of it. Let me run away and hide. Fear response. What if we had a faith response? What would that look like? So, you know, I've already shared this, but. But really quickly. This is your first time. My mama went on to be with Jesus at the very end of 22. So actually 23 was the poop year. Sorry, I said 22, 20. It was all. It was all a blur. It was all a big blur of poop. But not to get too graphic, but at the end of 22, my mom went on to be with Jesus. That was very hard for me. And leading up to that, I. I couldn't hardly show up, couldn't show up in my ministry, my business. I. I was dealing with a lot of stuff because, like, wait, why isn't my prayer working? What is happening? My. My mom is declining and it was really hard for me all of 23. I just didn't have my footing and I didn't. I had never gone through a crisis like that. The death of someone that I love dearly and was an essential part of my life. And so it was so hard for me because it was new for me. And, and I just didn't know how to navigate it. And I feel like I did discover some things and that's why I'm sharing this with you. Because if you're not in a crisis, you're probably coming out of a crisis or going into a crisis because again, Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble. So how are we going to go through this so that it lasts a shorter time and we come out better on the other side, so we have to face it. But what I'm talking about today is choosing that direction. There is an energy with which we can go through Trials. That is either a fear energy or a faith energy. Okay? Because we're going to. We're going to go through the storm. We're going to have storms. So how are we going to go through it? That's what we need to be very intentional about. How are we going to go through this? So think about it. For this buffalo and for the cow, you're going to be running, right? You're going to be rained on, you're going to be working. You're. You're as you know, me and you, we're going to wake up, we're gonna eat, we're gonna go to the bathroom, we're gonna show up at work, we're gonna be parents. We're still going to be married, we're still going to be going through life, right? So at Calada Buffalo, you're still going to be running. But what if we were super, super intentional about the direction we're running in, the energy with which we're showing up to work, the energy with which we're showing up in our marriage as a parent? So that's what we have to be intentional about so we can choose. And it is a choice to do this in faith and not fear. One of the reasons we typically actually, two reasons we typically respond with a fear response to crisis that happens in our life is A, we have gone through similar crisis. We know how it feels, so we get scared and resist it, or B, we've never gone through it and we don't know what it looks like and it's unfamiliar, and so we resist it. So either way, it's like we have negative evidence or we have no evidence. So what if we just made a decision about how we're going to go through it? We're not going to be able to avoid it. How are we going to go through it? I want to read to you Joshua 24:14, 15. Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day. Say that with me. Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me in my house, you know the rest of it. Come on, say it with me. We will serve the Lord. Now, this is a conscious decision that Joshua made. He said, look, you can. If, if it seems odd to you to show up with faith to show up with joy in this time. Then go ahead and show up with fear. But make a choice. Make it intentional, make it conscious. Make a conscious choice. The biggest problem that we have in life is we're living life unconsciously. It's like a knee jerk reaction. We're just, we're just responding to everything, right? So we're just responding to everything that happens in our life, and we're not making it intentional. So I'm asking you today, what if, what would it look like if you made an intentional response to crisis by operating in faith? Now, this is what it looks like. Okay, first of all is asking, what do I make this storm mean? What do I make this storm mean? That is, that is operating with a level of intention around the storm and choosing the energy. First of all, we have to decide, okay, what did I make this mean? My. My mom having a stroke, declining. What did I make it mean? Did I make it mean that. That God doesn't heal? Did I make it mean, oh my gosh, I can't live without her? Did I make it mean my life is. Is gonna be painful? I can't. I can't let her go. Did I make it mean my best friend's leaving? Or did I make it mean this is. You know how it is, guys. You know how it is. Or do I make it mean? This is scary. This is new. I can still trust God and if she's here, awesome. If she's not, she's with Jesus. So I have to become super intentional about what do I make it mean? So think about the situations that we face in life. Let's say financial problems like Blair and I, we've gone through bankruptcy. Like, I remember at that time, I. I didn't know enough. Like, I didn't have the crazy blood show, but I didn't know enough that to be intentional with my energy. So I made it mean that I'm stupid, I'm broke, I don't know how to manage money, I'll never have money, I'm unfaithful with money, the world's unfair. Like, I made it mean all these things. Not consciously. I made it mean that unconsciously and responded in fear and began to be really scared about money and didn't trust myself with money. So I went through the storm of banks, bankruptcy, how I came out of it, kind of, kind of limping along the way, right? And scared to start a business, scared to manage money, didn't trust myself with it. So therefore, I continued to struggle with money. Now let's contrast that with how I managed. Going through my mom's passing was, okay, I gotta dig in now. I gotta be super conscious of what's going on in my energy and how I'm processing it. It's okay to be sad, it's okay to be angry, it's okay to grieve, it's okay to doubt. But it's not okay to separate myself from God and try to do this on my own. So I had to say, what would faith look like in that? In this place, in this place of pain, doubt, fear, denial? What would it look like to have faith here? So if you're going through a crisis in your life, the first thing you have to say is, what do I make it mean? And get super clear with those core beliefs that are navigating the decisions that you're making during that time. So there's always a favorable outcome and an unfavorable outcome of every crisis in life. Favorable, unfavorable. Problem is we are unconsciously meditating on the unfavorable. Predominantly if we don't even do it. Like, it's not intentional, we're just thinking, this is horrible, this is scary. It's going to be the end of me. I'm going to die. I'm gonna lose everything. I'll never survive this. Like, that is where our brain goes, not our mind. That's where our brain goes because we're human and we just think that way. No shame, no condemnation. It's just your human brain doing what it does best, keeping you alive. Now, what would it look like if we operated with the mind of Christ? It looks like I am aware of them, of the most unfavorable outcome. We talked about that, actually, in the very first part of this whole series. First of all, we have to develop awareness. But now I'm going to choose. I can meditate on the most unfavorable. That's what I'm doing anyway, probably. Or I can choose, make an intentional decision to meditate on the most favorable outcome. What if this crisis with money, what is the bankruptcy? We could be like, you know what? Now I'm going to learn about money. Now I'm inspired to really find a mentor. Now I'm going to start learning the skill. If everything is figureoutable, I'm going to figure this out because I know I have the mind of Christ. I can do all things. So there's always a favorable outcome. Oh, this is going to be a great part of my story. Think about that when you're going Through a crisis, your mind can say, this is just going to be part of my story. I'm going to have a victory at the end of this, and then I'll be able to share this with other people and inspire them. That could be part of, of the favorable outcome that you choose to hold. Okay, so sometimes we don't know. Sometimes we're going through a crisis and we really don't know. We're like, I, I know the most unfavorable outcome and actually meditating on that, but I can't even imagine what a favorable outcome would be from this, from this potential, you know, from this, from the death of this person, from this financial crisis, from this divorce, from this, like, I don't even know what could be. My brain's not even there. Got it. When your brain is not even there that you can even process a favorable outcome because the pain is so acute, that's where we neutralize the outcome. That's where we say, okay. But I don't know what the favorable outcome could be from this because it hurts so bad right now, but I can just neutralize it and say, right now I'm okay. So when my brain starts to go to the unfavorable outcome, oh, this is going to be in the me, I'm going to die. I'll never survive this. All we have to do, if we can't think the favorable, we just neutralize it. Say, right now I'm okay. Right now I'm okay. I don't have to even know about tomorrow because right now I'm taking my next breath, I'm waking up, I'm drinking my water, I took a shower and I'm okay. That's kind of squaring up. We have to sometimes square up when we're going through a crisis and we choose a direction, but first we got to square up and face the direction. Say, I'm okay. Right now I'm okay. See, we're always praying. I know this is like, feels like a tangent right now, but. But stick with me. We are always meditating on something. We're always holding thoughts. And prayer is really just focusing your thoughts in a direction that is in line with God. If you're always meditating, you're always focusing on something, so you're always praying. So if you're always praying, think about it. Imagining the worst case scenario is like praying for that thing to happen. So I want to challenge you right in the middle of a crisis. Your mind will want to go there, but I want you to pull it Back. That's, that's, that's taking thoughts captive, right? I want you to pull it back and say, what would it look like to just be okay right now? I don't have to create, I don't have to meditate on anything. I don't have to create anything. I don't have to see what it's going to look like and hold all this fear. I can just be okay right now. Because all prayers are answered. We have to be conscious of where we're spending and investing our emotional and mental energy because that is prayer. So we have to be conscious of the direction, we have to choose that direction. Where is my energy going to go in this crisis? We can believe in the covenant or we can believe in the curse. Either way, they're both realities. So the covenant is a reality. We have a covenant of joy, of salvation, of abundance to God through Jesus. We have that covenant sealed. But we also have a choice to abide under a curse. Now when we accept Jesus, we are redeemed from that curse. But our, our spirit is redeemed. Our soul, our mind, our will, our emotions can still get tangled up in curse thinking. We still think pain, we still think separation, we still think limitation, we still think earthly results. And so even though we are covenant people, we can still be curse minded. If we don't do the work of changing the direction, we have to change the direction of our thoughts because thoughts become things. So if our thoughts are in line with God and faith and his will for us, we can choose that those are the things that we start to walk into as we come out of this crisis. But if our thoughts are in line with agony, pain, separation, those are the things we will walk into as a result of the crisis. So either way, you're going to come out of this crisis, how are you going to come out? That's the question. How are you going to come out? So we have to think that everything we face as we're going through a crisis could be potentially trying to get me off track. Think about it. When a buffalo is running through the storm like a cow is running away from the storm, they're just looking back like, ah, this is horrible, it's horrible, it's horrible. It's catching up with me. I just, I'm getting rained on. This is horrible. A buffalo is charging the storm. This is what I want to encourage you to do. Charge the storm, face it, embrace it, move into it, let it do its work in you so you come out stronger on the other side. But as you're charging the storm. It's easy to get blinded by all the rain. Have you ever been like that in a car? And. And you're driving in the middle of a storm, and it's like, literally cannot see a thing out of my windshield. Like, I'm gonna have to pull over and wait this one out. So think about it. If you don't even have a windshield, you're a buffalo, right? You're running through that storm. You're charging it. All you're seeing, you're getting pelted by rain. And sometimes it's easy to lose track if you're depending upon your eyes to give you natural direction. This is where we have to depend upon our spiritual eyes. Just like Elijah told Gehazi, his servant. His servant was looking out, and he was terrified. He was like, oh, my gosh, there are so many people that are coming to kill us. This is horrible. This is terrible. Elijah's totally chill. Elisha's like, God, open up his eyes so he can see. And all of a sudden, Gehazi saw chariots of fire that were greatly outnumbering the soldiers that were coming to get them. So he's like, oh, there's two different armies at play here. There's two different realms at play here. There's a natural. There's a supernatural. You know what I always say? Hold up. Wait a minute. Put a little super in it. That was what Elijah was doing. Please open up his eyes so he can see. Hold up, Gehazi. Wait a minute. Put a little super in it. Open up the supernatural eyes and see that the armies that are fighting for you are greater than the armies that are coming against you, because greater, see, that is in you than he that is in the world. So we have to depend upon our spiritual eyes to give us that direction, not necessarily our physical eyes, because when you look with the physical eyes, like, it all looks horrible. I can't even find a direction to go here. That's why we have to sink into the supernatural. I would say rise up to the supernatural and start looking with those supernatural eyes. Because here's the truth. I want you to. I want you to get this one phrase. If you don't quit, you win. Did you get that? If you don't quit, you win. Now, I'm not talking about quitting as in throwing up your hands, and I can't handle this. I'm talking about quitting as far as focusing your energy, what you're meditating on, it's going to be hard in the middle of a crisis, it is so hard to labor to enter into that rest that God offers you through Jesus. I get it. It is a struggle. It is a minute by minute struggle to get your grounding and your footing and faith when everything around you is falling apart. But if you don't quit and you intentionally choose a direction, you win all the time. I want to read this to you. I know you know this story, but I want to pull something out of it that I think is very impactful. This is David and Goliath. Okay. And I want to share this with you. Stick with me, because I. I'm going to show you something in here. When you're going through crisis, that's going to make a huge difference. Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, clothing with the coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the philistine. All right, first of all, when you're going through a crisis, when you're facing a crisis, the physical armor ain't going to help you. All right? Even in the. Like, I encourage everyone, like, have a coach, have a therapist, have someone. But sometimes the mental health field, is it going to be able to navigate and help you navigate this crisis as much as. So as much as this Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your first counselor, your first coach. Then add everything onto it and test it and see if it lines up with the Holy Spirit. So going in the natural. And you know what? I'm just going to have to. Only way I can get through this is. Is tequila like, no, No, I don't think that's going to help you come out better on the other side. We're going to have to make better decisions, and we're going to put it on. Say, you know what? This is not. This is not my spiritual armor. This is me trying to cope. And this is a fear response. Putting on physical armor is a fear response because David wasn't used to fighting in that. He was used to fighting with his bare hands and with the strength that God gave him. And that's how you're going to fight this. I have one tattoo on my body. Is the word everything. And the reason I got this is to remind me that according to psalms and proverbs and everything I put my hand to will prosper. So this is where we have to understand who we are and how we fight, how we go through this crisis. The Philistine moved forward and came near to David with his shield bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David. By his gods. The Philistines said to David, come to me, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field. Then this is where the direction changed. This is. This is where all of a sudden the movie pivoted. Right. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied this day. The Lord will deliver you into my hands hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines to stay to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves. Not with the sword and spear, not with how you can naturally go through this. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, sluggish, struck the Philistine's forehead. And you know what happened? The stone sank into his forehead. He fell on his face in the ground. Then he goes over there, gets the sword, bam. Cuts his head off. Now, what am I. Why am I sharing this with you? This is, by the way, 1st Samuel 17. Why am I sharing this with you? Because you have a choice on the direction you take when you're going through this crisis. Either way, David would be fighting the Philistine. He was already committed, because he already committed himself right to do this. Either way, he's going to go through it. He's going to go through it with a fear response. Let me really put on all my armor. Let me get a sword. Let me try to level the playing field with this enemy. That's often how we go through crisis. Let me gird up. Let me. Let me. I gotta level the playing field here because of what I'm facing. No, no, no, no, no. We're going to change the direction. I want to challenge you to lift it up to the supernatural realm, because that's what David did. He looked at Goliath, and I guess Goliath probably didn't have too many clothes on because he saw that he was uncircumcised and he said, wait a minute. You come to me with a sword, okay? Get it? Look at the crisis and say, crisis. You're coming to me with a big stack of bills, with a horrible doctor's diagnosis, with divorce papers, with. You fill in the blank. Right? You're coming to me with that. But I'm going to lift it up. I'm coming to you with a covenant that I have. That's what David looked at. He didn't look at the size of the giant. He looked at the size of his God that he had a covenant with. So he's like, I come to you in the name God. So we have to know who's in us so it will make us rise up. And now we don't have a level playing field. Now we just lifted ourselves up over the crisis, and that's how we change the direction. Make sure you're conscious of this. It's intentional. Everyone's going to go through storms. We do not go through the storms the way the world goes through the storms. We lift it up. We operate in the supernatural. We change the direction. And when we change the direction, guess what? We're going to change the outcome, and you're going to be blessed like crazy.