Ready, Camera, Action

The reason we fail trials in life is due to one of three things or a combination of all three things. First, we are unprepared for the battle and/or second, we have the wrong focus, and/or third, we take the wrong action (or no action at all).

Ready: Preparing for battle:

2 Timothy 2:3-4 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (NKJ)

Don’t wait until the problem comes before you begin preparing. That would be like hearing an intruder breaking into your room then doing exercises.

Mark 3:27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. (NKJ)

Don’t allow the enemy to get you tied up with distractions. Distractions can be anything or anybody who takes your focus off the Word.
Camera: A focus upon a moment in time. It can only record an event and never reveal the future.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (NKJ)

If you focus on the problem, everything else will become blurred. Stop looking at Jesus through the lens of your problem and look at the problem through the lens of Jesus.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (NKJ)
Good News Translation So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
When you decide to walk by faith, trials don’t just stop. You learn to overcome them by acting on the Word.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (NKJ)
Preparing means to focus upon the Word until the action you should take is revealed.

Action: A planned response:

What do you do when a trial comes along? A choice must be made. What is the right decision? The answer is found in His Word.

Psalm 119:97-107 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. 102 I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 106 I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments. 107 I am afflicted very much; revive me, O Lord, according to Your word. (NKJ)

Walking by faith does not keep trials and problems from coming. It means you now have the answers to those problems. Follow the example of Jesus when He Himself was tempted.

Luke 4:1-4 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (NKJ)