I Shall Not Be Moved

IBS Thursday February 4

Psalms 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Wow, how badly I needed to hear this. “I shall not be moved.” Last night I was given a major wake up call which revealed so vividly where I stand in life.

I have always been someone who has held back, who has lacked confidence. I know I am meant to be so much more, but I’m afraid to step out. I want to put myself out there, but I am afraid of putting myself on the spot. I have always stood on that line that separates the good from the great. I have always retreated to my comfort zone. Every time I kick through that barrier, I keep my other foot back and fail to truly give it 100%.

Growing up, I tried many things, but I never pushed myself to master one thing. I played soccer and quit because I was on a losing team. I played basketball and quit after one year because I thought it was too late to get good enough to play in high school, realizing later that I could have been so good. I ran track for my freshman year but quit because I thought it was a waste of time. I became a very good swimmer in the matter of one season, but I quit because I didn’t think I had a chance getting into a good college team, even though it was way too early to tell. I missed out on great relationships because I didn’t think I was good enough. I didn’t do my best in school because I was afraid of what would happen if I did apply myself and succeed. I took a job that had guaranteed pay because it sounded safer and backed down from my true desire to start a business. Many other things I quit or held myself back from because I lacked the courage.

Every time I held back in something, I beat myself up, knowing down inside that I really did have the potential and I really could have been successful. If only I did apply myself back then, where could I have been today? Who knows? The fact is that I’m here right now today. I can’t beat myself up anymore. I am definitely sick of being an in-between-er and a second-rate person. I don’t want to live my life in mediocrity.

This mediocrity shows up in my spiritual life too. That’s the one area that I know that if I applied myself to, it would mark a turning point in my life. This area is different though; it’s not about my own power but God’s power in my life. I have to give God the steering wheel and trust that through my seeking of Him, He will empower me for His purposes and will turn me into the vessel He created me to be. I’m at that point right now where a can either stay put or make the leap and be that person God wants me to become.

This past week I have seen God empower my friends’ lives in ways that I did not see the evidence of the day I met them. I see that God gives us outlets to pour ourselves out through when we set the Lord before us. When we set the Lord before us, we find that He is right there and will not allow us to be moved when we step out in faith. He will give us the confidence we need to stand firmly in our callings and carry them out to the fullest.

Job 42:2 says “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”

We can step out boldly, knowing that we will not be moved because the God who can do everything is at our right hand as we set Him before us.

Application: Today I am going to step out in faith. I want today to be a turning point in my walk with God. I don’t want to resist God’s power through my life any longer. I want to be everything He created me to be. I want to let go and let God go to work in my life. How? Today I am going to stop resisting God, and let Him guide me and teach me in the way which I should go as Jonah did when God asked him to go to Nineveh even though it was a huge risk. I am going to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit.