Imagine yourself at the top of a hill, garden hose in hand, pouring water down the hillside. Where is all that water going to go? Because of gravity, it will always take the path of least resistance. If there’s a tree in its way, the water will always flow around it. The water makes no decisions.
God hasn’t called us to live like that. Now imagine a tank driving down a hill. Where does the tank go? Wherever it wants. If there’s a tree in its way, it can go around or plow right through the tree.
Like the tank, we have the ability to choose our own destiny.
Matthew 14 describes Jesus calming a storm and walking on water. The interesting thing is that Jesus didn’t calm the storm for Himself. He calmed it for His disciples. The storm is symbolic of the external forces trying to push us in a certain direction. The storm didn’t bother Jesus. It wasn’t going to change His destination.
God doesn’t want the storms in life to determine our destiny either.
God’s desire for us is to be overcomers. The key to this is to have more resistance inside of us than there is on the outside. The obstacles don’t disappear, but it becomes easier for us to overcome them than to deny who we are in Christ.
We are called to reject being conformed to this world and instead be transformed by the renewing of our mind to the truth — (Rom. 12:2).
Some interpret Matthew 14 to mean we should call out to Jesus every time there’s a storm. However, I believe God’s best is for believers to be like Jesus. Why could Jesus walk on water? What was inside of Him was stronger than the storm.
Every person that God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). If you’ve been born again, you have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. You can resist what the world says.
“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith”
Are you born of God? Then you’re an overcomer. As promised in Isaiah 26:3, you can be at peace no matter what’s happening around you if you keep your mind stayed on God.
You can choose to be who God created you to be no matter what obstacle crosses your path because there’s resistance within you that is greater than any resistance you’ll face in this world!
Daniel Bennett Executive Director of Academics, Charis Woodland Park
Daniel Bennett grew up on the mission field and has loved ministry ever since. He has served in the Air Force, been a missionary in Nicaragua and Russia, and worked at multiple Charis Bible College campuses. He graduated from Charis in 2009 and from the University of Colorado Springs in 2012. Daniel currently serves as executive director of Academics at Charis Woodland Park. He and his wife, Ashley, enjoy being a part of a ministry that’s changing lives around the world.
