Opening Illustration: Some years ago, I was enjoying the start of my first whitewater rafting experience—until I heard the roar of the rapids up ahead. My emotions were flooded with feelings of uncertainty, fear, and insecurity at the same time. Riding through the whitewater was a first-rate, white-knuckle experience! And then, suddenly, it was over. The guide in the back of the raft navigated us through. I was safe—at least until the next set of rapids.
Transitions in our lives can be like whitewater experiences. The inevitable leaps from one season of life to the next—college to career, changing jobs, living with parents to living alone or with a spouse, career to retirement, youth to old age—are all marked by uncertainty and insecurity. God guides us through the rapids of change.
In one of the most significant transitions recorded in Old Testament history, Solomon assumed the throne from his father David. I’m sure he was filled with uncertainty about the future. His father’s advice? “Be strong and courageous, and do the work … For the Lord God, my God, is with you” (1 Chronicles 28:20).
We’ll have our fair share of tough transitions in life. However, with God in our raft, we’re not alone. Keeping our eyes on the One, who is navigating the rapids brings joy and security. He’s taken lots of others through before. (Joe Stowell, ODB 05/26)
Introduction: King David had desired to build God’s temple (1 Chronicles 17:1), but God told him he could not because of the blood he had shed as a warrior (28:3). Instead, the privilege and responsibility for this project would fall upon the shoulders of David’s son Solomon. It is understandable that Solomon would be apprehensive about assuming this role. Nevertheless, his father admonished him to trust in God and do the work. Indeed, God was faithful as Solomon built the temple and took his father’s place as king.
Are you facing a transition? Reflect on God’s faithfulness and ask Him for strength to carry you through.
How to navigate through the rapids of life?
1. Be FEARLESS (v. 20a; 2 Timothy 1:7)
God is calling you to be bold. If you have the tendency not to take chances in life because you're afraid of making mistakes, God wants you to know He's pleased with you when you try. It doesn't matter if you don't do everything exactly right. What matters is that you step out in faith, believing God will help you!
There are numerous people who are so afraid of making a mistake that they don't do anything. Instead, they sit around saying, "What if I'm wrong?" Well, we're human. We're going to make mistakes and look silly from time to time.
We can be so afraid of being judged or criticized or getting laughed at. However, the only thing fear does in our lives is, stop our progress.
What matters to God is relationship … not performance. God knows we aren't perfect, and He's totally okay with it. The problem is, the devil knows it too, and he does his best to tell us every step of the way!
We can be going along, serving God, doing good, stepping out in faith and then suddenly, without, there being any justification for it; we'll have a day or week when we have an attack on our mind about fear. That's when we need to say what God's Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
We can care too much about what people think of us to the point where it totally immobilizes us, and we are petrified about looking wrong. But do you know what? I think if we are more truthful, we will get more respect than we do by trying to hide everything, pretending we're perfect.
I believe one of the main reasons people like to listen to me is that I tell all my junk. It helps them to relax, to relate to me, and offers them hope that if I can do some of the things, I've done and make it, so can they.
We need to stop living in fear of making mistakes, because we will make mistakes—period. God is not asking us, not to make any mistakes. He's calling us to be bold—fearless in approaching Him, in stepping out in faith, and in trusting Him to lead us.
• Know that God knows.
• Walk through your day with God.
• Rest in the fact that God is for you.
2. Be ASSURED God is with you (v. 20b; Hebrews 13:5-6)
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be; you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you ...’”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble, we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. Even so, remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never … forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
Be assured with 1 John 4:4! “He Who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
3. Be DELIGENT to finish the work – Just do it! (v. 20c; Deuteronomy 28:12)
Your parents probably tell you things like, "Do your homework! Clean your room! Practice the piano!" Can you add to that list? It is tempting to say, "Not now!" or "I don't feel like it!" A diligent person starts working right away. A diligent person works hard to finish a job and do it well.
Proverbs 13:4 says, "The soul of a sluggard desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." Sluggards want many things. They do not get them because they do not work for them. Diligent people often get what they want because they work hard.
Diligent people get busy clearing the dishes off the table instead of sitting and pouting about it. Diligent people get up on time instead of being too late to even make their bed. Diligent people take care of their clothes instead of throwing them on the floor. It doesn't take very long to do these jobs. Be diligent!
Choose to work to please God, not just other people. Do not complain about what you have to do. Do the very best you can because God wants you to. When you're tempted to be lazy, remember Colossians 3:23. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Then, smile and get started.
• Diligence allows us to operate with our best for His highest with excitement and passion in order to complete our work and call from the Lord. It is practical obedience in action, which is the loving of our call and the pursuing of our work, so we are doing our best for His glory. Diligence also helps facilitate us to develop a good attitude as well as confidence, patience, forgiveness, values, loyalty, integrity, and be in a place to build and develop a positive and attractive disposition to those with whom we work (Proverbs 10:4; Ecclesiastes 10: 10; Luke 16:10-12; Romans 12:11; Colossians 3:23).
• Carelessness, neglect, and laziness are the opposites. When we stay in a rut or in a bad situation with continual weariness and fatigue, we will lose our primary focus, be ineffective, become a stumbling block to others, burnout, or go into a depression. We will miss out on other options and opportunities, start to disintegrate into a person with a bad attitude, and even become ill! Physical and emotional fatigue has bad attitude at their root, which can turn into spiritual fatigue. Thus, frustration, stress, worry, anger, guilt, indecision, unrealistic expectations, resentment, and many other negative emotions will accumulate and then compile upon us to bring us down in our personal relationships, relationships with family, and our relationship to God. We, therefore, will not be able to function as He called us, nor will we be able to worship Him effectively.
Application: God guides us through the rapids of change.
