Influencers Weekly Devotional- We Don't Run or Fly Away

April 24, 2015

We Dont Run or Fly Away   by   Rocky Fleming     “In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain …” Psalms 11:1 (ESV)     When I was a kid I used to follow my Dad around in the sagebrush in Mississippi when he would quail hunt.  It was fun watching the hunting dogs work a covey of quail.  They would sniff around, get on their trail, and when they spotted the birds, they would go into the famous posture of a Pointer birddog, as they would lift one leg, straighten their tails, and point their nose toward the birds, almost as if they were saying to my Dad, “Right there!”  When he would walk upon the quail ready to shoot, they would flush out of their home and look for safety while he shot them down.  He needed them to flush in order to bag them, similar to the way Satan needs God’s man to cut and run or fly when we are threatened.   Flying away scared is not unique to the quail, for if you haven’t noticed, all birds fly away from a threat and look for safety.  As I read David’s song above, I could understand clearly what he was saying, or more accurately asking of himself.  He was asking himself if he was like a frightened bird wanting to fly away to safety, or was he a man who had taken refuge in the Lord?  I think we can understand we all have a fright and flight reaction to a threat.  It is a normal instinct for survival.  But, as a Man of God, and one who has taken refuge in the Lord, do we let our survival instincts get the best of us, or do we trust that His refuge is the safest place we can be?   If we do not understand or fully accept the benefit of God’s refuge in times of trouble, we will take wings and look for a place we can hide out.  But God doesn’t want us to hide out.  He wants us to stand strong and be the conquerors that we can be by being in His refuge.  What is His refuge, and how do we get there?   The past several weeks I have been in a battle to find peace and hope, and not allow fear to rule my life because of some serious health threats.  I shared those things in my emails, and you might be aware of them.  I will tell you that I have been practicing the battle plan that I mentioned, and I am convinced that the weapons of faith, hope, trust, prayer and God’s word can counter the threats we receive, and especially those that come at the mind, heart and spirit.  These spiritual weapons have indeed been my shield of faith.  I am grateful for the many encouraging notes, and I have also been aware that a great effort has been given to prayer on our part by many of you.  I believe this is a big reason why our shield stands tall and thick against the threats that have come against us.  I have received many notes that I will keep and cherish.  But, there is one note I received, and is very special to me, because it comes from a veteran who was a battlefield soldier during WW2.  It came from Erwin King.  I would like you to read it in his own words:   I don’t know you personally, but you were a speaker at a men's retreat at the Williams center in N. Tulsa 8 or ten years ago and I heard your story. Rocky, as a WW2 combat soldier I can tell you are on the right track. I learned that when you can’t go anymore, you just get up and go again and again til there is no human endurance left to go with. Then it’s up to God from that point on.    I love the words, “Til there is no human endurance left to go with.  Here is how it impacted me:  I think we struggle with allowing our instincts as humans to rule us, and like I said, our instinct for survival gives us a fright and flight reaction.  But, there is another spiritual instinct that is being formed in us as God’s man, and that is the instinct to stand and fight the threats that come at us.  As a “birdman” our instinct is to fear, worry, and look for quick remedies to get us back into our comfort zone.  As God’s Man, we instead develop a feel for the battlefield and press close to our greatest strength during the threat.  We give up on what we can do, but we never give up on what God can do.  We don’t run from the fight, but rather we engage it, for we are fully equipped for the battles.  However, until we learn to use the spiritual weapons that cause us to stand strong and prevail, we get beaten up.  The problem lies in our confusion in thinking that we win a spiritual battle by will power and strategy and over management, that is until we get to that condition that Erwin speaks of, when he said there is no human endurance left to go with … and it’s up to God from that point.  Men, I think that until we get to that point sooner than later, we will struggle with the threats that come at us.  Therefore, we must build a foundation of belief that it is up to God at all points to stand with us against any threats coming against us, and the sooner we build this foundation, the sooner we become the conquerors we are designed by God to be.   For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. Psalms 112: 6-8 (ESV)   When I read the verse above and visualize a victor standing over his victim, I think of the promise that God’s man will be more than a conqueror. It is hard to understand what being more than a conqueror would be, except I know that it somehow means that I am being invited into Gods Special Forces that are separated from the rest of the pack. I guess you could say that it would be God’s Navy Seals and Delta Force all wrapped into a powerful force to face discouragement and all other things the enemy throws at us. This is what we are being invited to join. These men do not panic or run. They stand and defend … and conquer. I want to be this man. You deep down want to be this man. However, until we become this man, we resort to dealing with bad news with panic and fear instead of a steady, confident courage that will conquer.   When I read the verse above, I am reminded how bad news has often caused me to panic and to move into that over management condition that we all go to with a reaction. But, this verse also reminds me to not fear bad news. When it comes I must say to myself, I will not fear this news, and I will trust the Lord. He is the determiner of how bad this news is. Who can know better than He? He has a plan before this thing came to me, and I will trust Him. When I make my stand and go through this process, it calms me down. This process then gets me in a right place where God can battle with me against the condition or foe that I face. Until I get to that point, I will be struggling with something that God said He would deal with for me, and I would have wasted precious time and energy on something I need not had feared, nor something I could have conquered on my own.   God is calling us to be these men who conquer. He will reform us from cowards to conquerors. He will equip us from being defenseless to being completely defended. He will train us from being discouraged and insufficient to being inspired and Christ sufficient. This is His plan for His men. So, are you ready to join this team?