Live Free with Josh Howerton - We are All in the Same Boat | Ep. 384 | Thursday, July 25, 2024

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

How does drifting happen? Drifting occurs when we stop counting our blessings, gathering together, resting, praying, and climbing. Today, let’s hear how to drop anchor with God and stop the drifting. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.com. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and we hang here Monday through Friday for just a few minutes together. So thanks for tuning in.

We started a conversation yesterday about drifting from God, and we all have a tendency to do that. Like those great theologians, the Zach Brown band say, we're all in the same boat, fishing in the same hole. We all have drifted in our relationship with God a time or two. So no guilt trip intended here. We're just trying to get a handle on why we do it. What are some things that help? helped us drop anchor that maybe we aren't doing any longer, that have contributed to the drift. Yesterday we read and prayed those words from Psalm 139, which say,

search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts, point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. We pray, God, get your eyes on me. Would you tell me, why have I drifted? And whenever I pray that kind of prayer, it seems like God always points out a few things that I stopped doing and some other things that maybe I started doing. So let me just give you a few today and we'll wrap this all up tomorrow. I have found that drift happens when we stop counting and we start comparing.

When we stop counting our blessing and we start comparing our life to everybody else, drift happens. You know, it's so easy to get caught up into comparison trap, isn't it? You can scroll through your, you know, Facebook or Instagram feed and see everybody else's highlight real how they've lost like 20 pounds in three days or stunning vacation pictures. and all of a sudden we start believing that we're not good enough, that we're not beautiful enough, we're not smart enough, worthy enough, ripped enough, or popular enough, we're not blessed like they are. And so we start to drift toward all kinds of unhealthy thinking.

I've also found that drift happens when we stop gathering and we start isolating. You know, so many of us found that to be absolutely true during the lockdown portions of that pandemic where we couldn't gather, at least in the way we were used to gathering. And then many of us just got out of habit and we started to drift. And then being alone too often with our thoughts, we started diving way too deep into the comment sections on Twitter or X or cable news networks or conspiracy theories. And we started drifting. We started drifting away from God,

drifting away from community, away from friends, away from truth, away from compassion, away from purpose. And the isolation was really hard on kids and students. So much anxiety caused by not being. being able to hang together. It's been called a national health crisis these days.

I think that season really highlighted for us, our desperate need for community. We were made to do life together. I love my fire pit. I use it almost every night. I sit out there and I work on messages. In fact, many of these podcast episodes get created while I'm on a zero-turn more or sitting around that fire pit at night. And when I'm done and ready to go back in the house, always take the poker.

and I spread out the remaining embers because when they are separated, they grow cold more quickly and eventually they'll burn out. And it's why it says this in Hebrews 10, verse 25, and let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage

one another. In other words, keep the fire stoke, not spread out, time is short, we need to be together, especially now that the day of its return is drawing near. When we stop gathering, drift happens. And I found this to be true in my life, as well. Drift happens when we stop resting and we start running. Now I'm not talking about working hard or being ambitious, we ought to attack things with excellence, but

not to the detriment of our soul. And I hope this summer you are going to find some Sabbath, some rest. Our Creator built that into the rhythm of our life. He wrote it into the owner's manual. Shut it down every week. Now religious people, they just turned it into another burden to carry. So Jesus comes along and tells us, listen, Listen, people weren't made for the Sabbath. That was not God's intent to pile on more rulekeeping on top of us. The Sabbath was made for people. To rest, to reflect, to recharge is for our benefit.

When we don't do that, drift happens. Drift also happens when we stop praying and we start panicking. When we stop praying and we start panicking. One of the main reasons for unanswered prayer is prayerlessness. We just never get around the talk. talking to God, and we start trying to control everything ourselves, and when we do, our anxiety levels rise. One of my life verses that has brought me back time and again from a drift and anxiety is Philippians 4, 6, and 7 that says, do not be anxious about anything. But in every

situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving in your heart, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. One more. This one came to my mind, not around. the fire pit but on the beach one evening drift happens when we stop climbing and we start coasting when we stop climbing and we start coasting now the reason I thought of this one I was sitting on the beach watching pelicans I mean there are pelicans when they dive bomb they are absolutely fascinating you've seen it right I started wondering as I watched these pelicans dive bomb into the water wonder what their success rate is

so I did some very intense research I sat there and Googled it. But there are a marine biologists who study this stuff. The success rate for pelicans is about 70%. When you see them throw their head back, that you know they got a fish. And the fascinating thing is, the higher they climb and then dive, the success rate goes up to about 90%. And I'm sitting there on the beach scrolling, reading this stuff, thinking, no way. And I felt the Holy Spirit whispered to me, bro, you need to climb higher. Back off from the situation. get closer to me and reset your focus. So let's just push pause right there, and we will wrap this up tomorrow, but can I encourage you today?

Climb higher today. Get closer to God, gain a better perspective, and I'll see you back here tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit Lake Point. dot church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.