Are You Anticipating God’s Power?

Maybe you find yourself facing a difficult situation that you have absolutely no control over. Maybe your depressed and everything around you looks dark. Maybe you need a miracle or just need to know God is watching out for you. Maybe you have been praying for someone else and are weary as it seems no answer will ever come.

We live in a time where we are almost waiting for the other shoe to drop. So many bad things happening in the world. So much turmoil around us. People losing jobs, families being ripped apart, danger increasing on a global scale etc… It is very easy to get caught up in the feeling of panic and despair that has hit much of the world the last few years. Most have probably had the thought “am I next”.

The stock market has a gauge called the VIX. The VIX is also known as a fear index. That’s right Wall Street actually has a measure for fear in the markets. This index can actually be traded. People can buy and sell fear.

Many professional traders use it to decide when to buy and sell everything from commodities to stocks. They are usually doing the opposite of what the general public is doing which is why they are profitable. If the fear gauge is real high and a lot of panic in the market. These traders have trained themselves to go against the grain and buy. Likewise when the VIX is low and there is little fear they are looking for opportunities to sell.

A little over a year ago the VIX was hitting fear levels no one thought was possible as panic swept the markets. It was really phenomenal. When the VIX reached its highest levels and there was shear pandemonium. The professional traders threw off fear and began to buy. When everyone else was selling into panic they were buying. They seized the opportunity and profited great sums.

How can they do that? How can they actually buy into panic? They have trained themselves to go against the trend. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to not give into panic. To stay cool headed in chaos is not easy.

My point here is not give a lesson on Wall Street. It is to make the point we need to train ourselves to fight fear and despair. We may be surrounded by it but we don’t have to be caught up in it. God has given us the power to overcome fear. But it takes discipline to walk in faith. If we do not train ourselves in spiritual disciplines we will give into fear and despair. Faith is a gift from God but it is also a spiritual discipline that must be exercised to work.

We need to wake up every day and get with God. Then determine we are going to anticipate God doing something amazing today. This does not mean we will not face trials or difficulties. But we should fully expect God to move on our behalf in the middle of difficult circumstances. We have to fight against panic and believing God will not answer our prayers.

We should not face our day with a sense of dread but with anticipation. We need to train ourselves to anticipate God. To expect His divine power to be in operation around us, through us and on our behalf. It takes spiritual discipline for our thinking to be bent away from the world and towards Gods point of view. It is something we must fully commit to find everyday and once we find it not let anything take it.

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Shane Harris