This morning, we are wrapping up our nine-week series “Lessons From the Wild”. In this series, we have talked about climbing the mountains of life.

That we need the adversity, perspective, and growth opportunities that they present. I shared that when opportunities arise, we need to learn to take the shot and not be afraid to fail. Fear is not fatal; it’s part of the maturing process as we progress forward.

I also shared that we need to keep moving forward through faith, hope, and perseverance when it doesn’t look good because there will be times when the climb and journey are harder than we thought they would be. We also talked about the need for repetition. You and I must train for the outputs that we desire. Spiritual maturity doesn’t come by chance; it comes by repetition and consistent use.

As you grow, I encouraged you to be patient with yourself. We are maturing by the grace of God, not simply by our performance. Our spiritual journey in Christ is rooted in God’s unmerited favor, and we have a sure foundation because of what Christ has done.

I also challenged us in the series to finish what we start. This race that we are running is a lifelong race. It is he that endures to the end that shall be saved. We do not want to cast away our confidence in the Lord. We are to remain steadfast, loyal, and filled with anticipation for the coming day when we will stand before him.

To run the fullness of the race before us, we will have to find our stride. God's call on our lives has a specific pace. We are to look to Jesus as we run the race and avoid comparison. God's call on your life is unique, and you need to run the race to fulfill it. As you run, be careful who you talk to.
Not everyone has the capacity to speak into what God has placed in you.

Remember to guard the seed and cultivate the soil of your heart, and because God’s word will not return void, fight for what He has placed in you.

This final message I have entitled Don’t Panic. Think.

The Story:
On the final day of the hunt, Marcus and I had found a spot that was perfect for glassing a large area. From the elevated position, we could see a lot of terrain. Now, if you have ever hunted around Roswell, you know that there are maintained county roads. Other roads that are passable but rough, used by ranchers to tend to cattle, are often called two tracks, and there are also pipeline roads that follow various pipelines.

The glassing spot was on a pipeline road with rolling hills that varied in steepness. We made it to the spot we wanted to use to glass, and after a period of time we looked down the road and did the proverbial, I wonder what’s over there conversation.

Because the road to this point hadn’t been too bad, we decided to keep driving down it. We came to one particular decline that looked a little longer and steeper, and I remember making a comment that it would probably take 4-wheel drive to get back up that hill.

Long story short, it did require 4-wheel drive to get back up, but the fun part was that I pressed the button for 4-wheel drive and it wouldn’t engage. Attempt after attempt passed, and it didn’t work. When I tried to climb the hill without it, I would reach a certain spot that would cause me to lose traction and momentum in the back wheels. Result: We were stuck.

The amount of things that go through your head when you're miles out of town and legitimately stuck was wild, but one thing that stuck out to me above all was the voice of the Lord in the moment. I simply heard, "Don’t panic; think.” I spent the next hour working the problem to find a solution.

I tried backing up and doing a full send with speed. I tried placing extra rocks where I would always get stuck. I tried driving laterally around the hill and finally saw a random plant that I could kick branches off of to cover a larger area of ground to hopefully get traction.

As you can tell by me being here to preach to you today, we made it out. When it was all said and done, I had to replace two tires I ruined that were practically brand new, and I also had to pay to get my 4-wheel drive repaired, but we made it out.

After everything, Marcus made a comment to me in the truck that I handled the situation really well. I asked how, and he replied that he would have flipped out in frustration. My response was simple: getting frustrated wouldn’t have helped us get up the hill. All it would have done is negatively impact how he saw me as a leader and believer.

The simple idea this week is this: when life doesn't go as planned, don't let panic determine your response. Pause, pray, think, and trust God to lead you through the problem.

We have talked a lot in this series about mindsets, and how you respond to problems has a great deal to do with how you set your mind. The reality is that problems are a part of life.

Jesus never promised us as His followers a problem-free life.

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, the unexpected happens, the solution to the problem isn’t immediately obvious, and you find yourself asking, “What am I going to do now?”

In my situation, panic wouldn’t have made the vehicle work. It wouldn’t have changed the circumstances, and it would have made it harder to think clearly. The instruction from the Lord was to work the problem until I found a solution.

Life works the same way. When something unexpected happens, our first response is often emotional before it is spiritual, but it is good to remember that though the problem may be unexpected to you, it is not unexpected to God.

So, when the unexpected happens, we want to do our best to not let panic make our decisions.

Panic most often creates urgency without wisdom. When we're afraid, we often assume the worst, make decisions too quickly, say things we shouldn't, try to control what we can't, isolate ourselves, and react instead of respond.

These things I have seen from personal experience how damaging they are to those around you. Your moment of stress gets poured out on everyone else around you, even if they had nothing to do with it.

A good thought to remember is this: You don’t have to respond to every problem immediately. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is stop and think. Essentially, it is James 1:5.

A great truth of this passage is that it reveals we won’t always know what to do. There will be moments when you don’t have the answer, when the situation is bigger than your experience, and you simply don’t know the next step to take. In these moments, we simply need to learn to ask God for wisdom.

What I love is that He gives wisdom to those who ask. He may not show you every detail, but He will give you wisdom for your next step. Why doesn’t He give all the details at once? Because we would lose our dependency and try to do it all in our own strength.

So, in the tough, unexpected moments of life, we need to learn to exchange panic for prayer.

Panic says, what am I going to do? Prayer says, God, what do You want me to do? Panic focuses on the problem; prayer brings the problem into the presence of God. Praying doesn’t mean the situation changes immediately, but it does reframe the way we stand in the situation.

Prayer helps us to trust God before we have everything figured out.

Faith doesn’t require complete understanding. There will be times when you simply have to declare, God, I don’t understand, but I trust you. Trust begins where understanding ends. Faith doesn’t deny the problem and pretend everything is ok. Faith simply refuses to let what we don’t understand become greater than what we know about God.

Remember that the unexpected presents opportunities for growth. You don’t have to enjoy the problem, but you can ask God, what are You wanting to develop in me through this?

A key need for the believer is to learn to anchor ourselves in God’s sovereignty.

Remember, in every situation, God is at work, and what feels out of control to you is never out of control with God.