In Matthew 8:25 we saw that the disciples did not have the spirit of champions, "And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.” Many times you are defeated in life because you are first defeated in your spirit. In Matthew 8:26, Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Second Timothy tells us, “God had not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of a sound mind” (1:7). You have to know who you are in God. God has called you to take on the spirit of a champion. Champions still have struggles, but they don't allow their struggles to stop or hinder them. You have to know who you are in God. He asked his disciples a very important question, why are you so fearful? If God is not worried about it, then why are we worried about it? If Jesus can sleep through the storm, then why can't you? A lot of things that you're losing sleep over, you ought to be sleeping through.
As Psalms 30:5 tells us, ”Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.” The reason why so many people are losing sleep is because they are worried about things that they shouldn't worry about. People are losing their minds over so many things, but they have to learn how to rest in Jesus. They should remember Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.”
Don't take on the spirit of failure or depression but take on the spirit of a champion. You may not be where you want to be, but thank God for his grace that you are not where you used to be. There are some things in your life that you have to give to God and learn how to start sleeping through. God is completely aware of everything that's in your life. Why are you fearful? I can imagine Jesus looking at his disciples and thinking that they really didn't know who he was. But he knew that he was God and that he had not brought them this far just to perish. In other words, he was letting them know that he was a champion and that he wanted them to also have the spirit of a champion.
If you apply this same message to your own life, you can add years to your life right now. This revelation is powerful and will cause you to respond to storms the right way. Why are you so fearful? Why are you allowing yourself to be stressed out as if God is not with you? I believe that these words will help you to take on a new attitude and revive your spirit. I can picture Jesus with his disciples saying, yes, I see the storm but I can also see your fears and right now your fears are bigger than the storm. The storm is not what's about to kill, it's your fears. As the Bible says, “Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm” (Matthew 8:26).
Jesus was showing you how to face adversity in your life. Whatever you are going through, face it with confidence. That's the spirit of a champion. God will bring you out and bring you through. Then he arose and spoke to the sea. By rebuking the winds, Jesus told the sea enough is enough. You must understand that God knows how much we can bear and he knows when to say that's enough for you.
He often allows bad things to happen to you and you wonder why. It's as if he's allowing certain things to arise in your life and just when you can't bear another moment, that's when he says that's enough. Our wise God always knows when to say that's enough even though at times you might really wish he could speed it up a little more. You have to always keep your spirit at a place of assurance in God. As the Bible says in
Psalm 24:9, “Lift up your heads.”
Learn how to trust him even when it seems as if you are doomed and life is all over. The disciples should have been relaxing with Jesus but they were up worrying. If you are not watchful there will be things that will steal the champion spirit right out of you. If you spend more time worrying than praying and worshiping God, then your heart will only see defeat and destruction. Champions must have the spirit to see beyond the storms. Don't just see the storm but learn how to see a storm as a force that you're going to conquer. There will be things that you just can't figure out in this life, but in spite of it all you have to keep the right spirit.