Mindy Lee Hopman

…casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:7, 8 (NASB)

Gymnasts have great balance.  I’m amazed when I watch the girls travel so quickly from move to move on the balance beam without breaking or falling.  Balance beam work takes a lot of practice and an immense amount of intentional focus.  My daughter’s beam routine has greatly improved this past year.  She is stronger and the more time she spends on the beam, the more her confidence grows.  When she intentionally focuses on the beam, she does great!  However, if she looks around and loses her focus, she falls off.

Our bodies crave a perfect balance.
Sometimes we crave certain foods in order to replace vital nutrients.
Or, sometimes we crave foods because we are just plain stressed….DESSERTS = STRESSED
Sometimes we crave friends, or shopping, or family time after a busy week.

Figuring out how to fill the cravings in order to maintain the balance is the struggle we ALL deal with at some point in our lives.

We try to stay balanced, but sometimes life does not go as we plan.  We are either coming out of a difficult time, in a difficult time, or getting ready to go into one. We either stay focused and listen to our team of cheerleaders, or we fall off the beam.

Christ creates balance.
He lets us place our anxiety on Him.
He helps us to stay focused, because in Him we have hope.

Christ causes us to take our eyes off of the visible and begin to crave the invisible. 

Getting rid of anyTHING considered a stronghold allows for us to live freely in Christ and place our hope in Him.

What do you hold onto when hard times come?  How do you stay on the beam?

The struggle to keep balanced takes us deeper into our faith as we learn how to trust and rely completely on Our Creator.

He created you perfectly, but as a result of the Fall we all have a weakness.  That weakness is meant to bring you back to Him and your particular craving can only be satisfied by Him – no matter how hard you try to fill it with other things.

Sometimes strongholds and struggles are a direct result of the culture, environment, or people around where we live.

Sometimes struggles are caused by outside forces with which we have no control.

You can bet there is a roaring lion crawling around in sheep’s clothes trying to give you the slight push you need to falter…

Bethany Hamilton serves as a beautiful role model for young girls.  She had a strong faith before her arm was violently ripped off by a shark, but that accident only caused her to dive deeper into Jesus.

…with a smile on her face, she recalls that she had a ‘sense of peace and calmness’ despite missing her left arm and losing more than half her blood because she was ‘able to turn to Jesus during this crazy moment in my life.’

‘I think that is the one thing that just kept me alive.’ Bethany Hamilton (www.christianpost.com 3/23/11)

Her story is horrific yet beautiful at the same time.
God took her to a place where she had to completely rely on Him to get her through.

She could have fallen off, but even when she was pulled under, she stayed focused and remained steady in her faith.  She got back up again.

Regardless of where your struggle or stronghold came from – we all have them.

Step One: Identify what the struggle or stronghold is
Step Two: Throw (cast) it to the cross
Step Three: Surrender to His guidance daily by prayer & reading His word
Step Four: Remember WHO you are & WHOSE you are

Are you there?  Has God taken you to a place where the only option is to surrender your cravings and desires to Him?

He wants to carry your burdens for you so that you can live a life of freedom.

Living a life of freedom allows for God to give us wisdom, show what His perfect will is, and gives us the opportunity to carry it out with HIS intervening power.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength.  Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)

He will turn your craving for temporary fulfillment from the world to eternal fulfillment which comes from the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Basking in His Light

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