Jesus Over Everything: 5 Days to Calm Your ChaosSample

Exercise Your Advantage

There’s a silent fear inside us all: that life will at some point take us down and we will not be okay. It attacks our mental well-being, our daily goals and plans, and even the way we treat our relationships with God. It’s hard to exercise faith when we have an underlying belief system that whether or not we survive or thrive is ultimately up to us. Even if we don’t say it, our lives show the depth of our struggle in the way we worry our way through life, with nearly every single day looking the same: stress, fear, anxiety, rinse, repeat.

A lot of us aren’t exercising our faith advantage.

Yes, I said the word advantage. Maybe it’s something you haven’t thought of before, but it is certainly clear in the Word. The Bible says specifically in Psalm 103:2–5 that there are benefits to Jesus—“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits”—and then goes on to list them—“forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases…redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (vv. 3–5). This is our Father, so talk about a faith advantage!

But that’s not all. In times of distress and trouble, there is the advantage of not only calling on His name but exercising an internal fortitude of fight. This leads me to some questions for you. Have you exercised your advantage lately? Have you used your power to fight?

According to Ephesians 1, you have power in you not only to deal with life but to rise to a new level of potential. Verses 19 and 20 are key: “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms” (NLT). Notice how it says here “I also pray that you will understand,” which suggests we don’t truly understand the advantage we have as believers in the almighty Savior of the world. Our advantage is like none other. We can do nothing in and of ourselves. In that, we are exactly like every other human. But as people who have chosen to follow Jesus, we have all the uniqueness in the world: we are in a different strength category. Our leader, Jesus Christ, gives us an unending supply of power to walk through this world strong, despite all else.

Never doubt that though the world will continue to be chaotic, our Lord has made a way for us to stay sure-footed and settled, even in the midst of life’s storms. As we exercise our advantage of a relationship with Him, we grow in the faith we need to know that no matter what: we will be okay.

Prayer

God, I’m so grateful to have not only You in this life but also such an advantage as Your child. Thank You that there are benefits to following You, and especially that in this world of trouble I have fight in me. Help me begin to understand this power that is available to me. I pray I would remember this in times when I am afraid and things look bad. You are strong. Make me strong too. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Respond

What ways does God’s power for you (these two words especially) change the way you walk through this world? 

How will you do life differently understanding this concept of strength in a new way?

Read Ephesians 1 for the five days after this reading plan is over. Write down each day at least one sentence of something you take away from the passage. What is God speaking to you through it?