What do we do when there is a forecast of an impending snowstorm? We head to the grocery store. We load up on bread, milk, eggs and other essentials. We top off the car with fuel, head home with a trunk full of groceries, prepared for the storm. Wake up to a forecast that says rain and we grab a jacket and an umbrella. Being prepared is vital to surviving a storm, whether rain, snow or the storms of life. Why fast? Because storms are coming. It’s not a maybe or possibility, it’s not the question of if, but when will the storms hit. This year there will be unexpected job losses, sickness, emotional hurt, life disappointments and difficulties we don’t anticipate. Knowing storms are in the future, what do we do? We prepare. We pray. We fast. We make our relationship with God a priority. That’s how we prepare spiritually. Jesus went into the wilderness, full of the Spirit, but comes out in the power of the Spirit. What happened in the wilderness? He was tempted. He fasted. He came out ready for all the challenges lie ahead. Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, but before he ever preached a message, God sent him to an Arabian desert. What happened in the desert? He prayed and fasted. He was being prepared for the impending storms; shipwrecks, stonings, beatings, persecution and jail, all storms that lay in front of Paul. How did he survive? Spiritual preparation. What does 2021 hold? God only knows, but one thing I do know, there will be storms. Are you preparing? How we prepare today will determine how we handle the storms and if we will survive. Fast today because storms are coming.
The Super Bowl. From the moment the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs won their conference championships, they turned their focus on each other. For the past two weeks, players from both teams have been studying, pouring over video, looking for any tendency, weakness that might give them an advantage over their opposition. It doesn’t matter if it is an interior lineman, punter or quarterback, each person at each position, has been looking for one thing that might give them an advantage. This is the game of their life. It is the fulfillment of a dream that began in a backyard with neighborhood friends. It’s the culmination of living in weight rooms, long bus trips and countless hours of sore muscles and untold pain. They have fought through high school, college and pro try-outs, all for the dream of someday playing in the Super Bowl. Now, if one small weakness can be found, it might make the difference in being a champion. We too are in a battle, it’s for eternal life. Satan, our opponent, scours over our lives, looking for any weakness or temptation he can use to bring us down. Can he find a way to bring discouragement to our heart? Maybe an issue that will bring agitation to our mind. He longs for anything that might give him an advantage over us. To live as Christians, without being aware of this battle, would be foolish. We must live with resolve. Keep building faith by reading God’s Word, strengthen resolve by praying habitually and renew spiritual strength by consistently fasting. Make 2020 the year that you resolve to be a stronger Christian.