“The Gospel According to Matthew.” When you need the mental might to stay in the fight, God will provide. Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Monday, December 10, 2018
Listen to “Thoughts in Worship 12.10.2018” on Spreaker.
“But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 13:11).
Super Strength
After a great discussion with a friend concerning our need for the power of the Holy Ghost, and complete reliance on Christ, something dawned on me. I thought back to my elementary school science classes. In those classes, we learned about the so-called fight or flight response. When certain stressors threaten us, adrenaline, noradrenalin, and cortisol are secreted into our bloodstream. The blood rushes away from our digestive organs, our pupils dilate, sight sharpens, and overall awareness is keener. In this state, we are physically stronger and able to move faster than usual. Our heart rate speeds up and to a large extent, we lose pain sensitivity. This is why a petite mother of a young child in danger, can literally bench press a car, if necessary, to rescue her child. Under normal circumstances, that same loving Mom may have difficulty opening a jar of pickles.
All of this neurophysiological stuff made me think of God’s willingness, and ability to supply us with what we need, at the very moment that we need it. The analogy may not correspond directly, but this is the way I see it. When we love the Lord and spend time with Him in daily devotional Bible study and prayer, He has promised many things. One such promise is that when we are faced with strong spiritual opposition and have to give an answer for our faith, He will speak through us. He said that we should not practice or specifically prepare, because it is God that speaks.
Spiritual Adrenaline
In the fight or flight response, the one stressed cannot prepare for the activity at hand. They cannot prepare to run more than twenty miles per hour. They cannot prepare to move a one ton vehicle without the aid of a tow truck. All of these abilities are given to us by God in the moment they are needed. Can you imagine what it would be like if we stayed charged by adrenaline all of the time? We would become overcharged and probably have a heart attack. The point is this, just as God put a mechanism in place for our physical protection, He did likewise for our spiritual well-being. Just as we must trust Him to activate the systems that He put within our bodies, we must trust Him to do likewise within our minds.
It is wonderful to know that God gives us instantaneous help when we need it. He is never too late, but always on time.
This has been the gospel according to Matthew. Be transformed by it.
