When I lived a fast-paced and stressful existence on life’s roller coaster as a CEO in my mid-thirties, I was constantly battling anxiety, emotional confusion, temptations, and anger. I failed to deal with the issues early before a negative pattern developed. With each new wave of anxiety my mind locked onto the wrong things and I slid a bit farther from God and the truth.
Living on this perpetually-moving roller coaster ride brought with it the inevitable trajectories downward toward discouragement where I couldn’t go to God because of the guilt and emotional trauma churning in my head and coursing through my body. When I did go to God, I got a little perspective and felt better. But I prolonged my misery by going to him too late and going in a depressed frame of mind.
What do we miss when we don’t immediately turn to God with our emotional, physical, and spiritual problems?
- We miss the joy of walking with God through darkness and into light.
- We miss modeling Christ and setting a mature Christian example for those around us.
- We miss receiving the perspective and learning God would use to deepen our spiritual maturity.
And worst of all, we miss the exhilaration that comes from leaving our cocoon and walking confidently toward the light of change. God says, “No way!” to cocoon thinking.
God wants his followers to live life with full-belief expectancy. For me, it wasn’t until I gave God the keys to my life that I saw these slopes upward and then downward were predictable and that I didn’t have the power to stop them on my own. It wasn’t until I stopped being boss and started to expect that God changed my heart and circumstances.
In order to see the Christian life unfold day-by-day with unbridled and confident expectancy, we must get off the roller coaster of life and connect with God to filter our thoughts and considerations through him on a regular basis. The mind can only see what it is prepared to see. If our perception of the future doesn’t include a burning expectation that God will work out his blessings for us, then we are heading into a future without promise.
As a man hungry for more than just a “Sunday-go-to-church” faith, I came to a point at which I asked myself if I believed God and his promises—not just generally believed, but if I truly believed, through my entire being, that God could and would do in me and for me what I could not do for myself. Did I believe enough to put God ahead of everything?
Did I believe enough to get off the roller coaster?
