Faith vs Friction
Poet and hip-hop artist, Talib Kweli in his 2004 album referred to life as the beautiful struggle.
Life is comprised of a series of decisions, made daily, made moment by moment to either follow God and His will or draw back into a path that only gratifies your will and desires. The Bible refers to this as the battle between the Spirit and the Flesh. The beauty in all of this is that there is unbelievable fulfillment and reward when we decide to pursue God’s way and surrender our will to His.
This battle between The Spirit and the Flesh, God’s Will vs Our Will can also be called the battle of Faith vs Friction.
Friction is conflict or animosity caused by clash of wills, temperaments or opinions. But faith is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. So if I have complete trust or confidence in God then it would make sense that I wouldn’t be fighting against His will or desires for my life.
Faith and friction reside on opposite ends of the spectrum. And they are constantly in a tug a war for your allegiance.
The interesting dichotomy is that in order to win the battle for faith against friction you have to surrender. You have to give up, to win!
One of the hardest things we have to do during our Christian walk is “give up” i.e. to surrender. In fact surrender is a daily commitment.
The definition of surrender according to Webster’s Dictionary is “to cease resistance to someone and submit to their authority”. So when you are surrendered, you offer no resistance, you offer no friction.
I’ve lived a long time in friction with God. When I was in an un-surrendered state I tried to deal with my problems, issues, troubles, worries, anxieties on my own. In handling these proclivities, it was often done in an illegitimate and even perverted way. I attempted to deal with it in my own power, in my flesh. And thus I was resisting God’s power and His ability to meet my physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Have you ever been here?
But as I grew closer to God, I became aware of who HE was, His character, His attributes, I fell in love with Him and embraced His love for me and could do nothing but surrender to THAT love. I then no longer resisted who God was, I allowed His power, His nature to meet my every need. I submitted to His authority and His will and His way in my life.
I surrendered to Him to not only as my Savior and Lord but I submit to Him as my healer, my provider, my way-maker. I allow God to be fully who HE is in my life, in whatever way He wants to be, and most importantly, in His timing. Because I trust Him, I don’t dictate the how, when, or where of my life.
So when a need arises, since I am now submitted, I make no attempt to fix it in my own strength. I give no resistance, no friction to God operating in my life as HE sees fit, I allow God to show up for me in His fullness.
When I am in need of finances, I give no resistance to God to show up for me as my provider. When I am in need of comfort and solace, I allow God to show up for me as the Comforter. When I am sick, I give no resistance to Him showing up for me as my healer and doing whatever He sees fit in my process of healing. It is my faith, strengthened daily as I pursue Him in relationship that allows me to put down my will and allow Him to just be GOD.
I am surrendered, I am submitted. I offer no resistance.
I choose faith over friction.
If you want to live an abundant life, unhindered by fear, on the strength of faith and knowing God and thus knowing yourself, lets chat!
Send me a message or schedule a free 15 min consultation. I would love to talk to you. I can help you navigate wherever you find yourself in your journey of becoming.
