S4 E6 - It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a TRAMPOLINE!

We bought our son who just turned 4 a trampoline for his birthday! It wasn't that hard to put together, but it didn't come with anchors. So, we ordered some online. I delayed putting them on because of how busy our week was, thinking I would just do it this upcoming weekend. Well, I wasn't anticipating a huge thunderstorm last night with big wind gusts. Thankfully, we still have a trampoline, but we got lucky. 

Well, what happens when storms come if we are not properly anchored in Christ? We will end up flying far away from where we once stood spiritually. So when is the best time to make sure your faith is grounded? That your children are grounded? Don't wait until things get hard - don't delay. Do it now. You never know when things are going to get more difficult. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 4 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Thanks for tuning in! 

Time is such a thief, isn’t it? I cannot believe that I am saying this, but my little boy turned 4 years old yesterday. When we moved to Danville, Ava was still only 6 months old and neither Dane or Finley were around yet. I still remember when Kylie told me we were pregnant again not long after we had moved here. I remember the first time I held his tiny little hand the day he was born. I remember bringing him home and introducing him to his sister. 4 years later, he’s running around dressed as batman and full of more energy than any child I’ve ever seen. He is all boy. For his birthday this year, we wanted to get him something special that would help him regulate his crazy amounts of energy – so we bought him a 14 foot trampoline for the backyard. Trampolines are so much safer today than when I was growing up. When I was a kid, a trampoline was essentially a death trap advertised as a good time. All the bars and springs were exposed, and there was no netting around them. I remember quite a few times falling off a trampoline or smacking my face on the perimeter bar when I was a teenager. But with these newer models, I can just let him lose outback all on his own with only a slight risk of injury (and it will happen at some point because trust me, he will find a way). The trampoline was not too difficult to put together, I think Kylie and I got it up in about 2-3 hours or so. However, one of the pieces of equipment that I thought would have come along with the trampoline was missing – and that was anchors for the base. We live in an area that when storms role through the winds can reach pretty significant speeds. A few years ago, we had a neighbor who had put up a trampoline that decided to take a little impromptu flight during a big wind storm and landed 3 doors down. We didn’t want that to happen to our trampoline, so we got online that night and ordered anchors off of Amazon and they arrived promptly a few days later. At first I had intended to go out and install them right away, but this week got very busy very fast so I had just decided to do them this upcoming weekend before Dane’s party. 

This brings us to fun part of our story. I had drifted off to sleep last night around 11:30, and as I usually do, I had put on thunder and rain sounds on a timer for me to go to sleep to. Suddenly I was awoken by a loud, boisterous roll of thunder. My first thought was, “what in the world, why is the TV so loud?” before I realized that what I was hearing was not the sounds of thunder and rain from my TV – but a pretty severe thunderstorm taking place right outside my window. I put my glasses on and looked at the clock, 1:30 in the morning. Lighting flashed brightly through our bedroom curtains, and I got up to draw them back and admire the storm for just a moment. I looked out into the backyard to see the rain pounding relentlessly on the ground. I watched as the wind pushed around trees and the patio furniture and the…oh no the trampoline! I had to wait for the next big flash of lightning to see if it was still there.  Much to my relief, as lightning illuminated the night sky, I saw that so far it was still inside of our yard – but for the rest of the night, there was nothing that I could do to keep it that way. I would simply have to wait and hope in the morning that it was still there. Well, I am happy to report that we are still the proud owners of a trampoline. Thankfully it got caught on the fence, but neither the fence nor trampoline were damaged in the process. But I’ll tell you this much, that’s the last time I put off anchoring something that needs to be firmly planted in the ground. We got lucky this time, and it could have been really bad otherwise. 

Not being firmly anchored is not merely a problem that all trampoline owners share, but something that we all must pay close attention to spiritually in our lives. As Christians, we are to be firmly rooted in Christ and the hope of his calling. Hebrews 6:19 reads, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.” Jesus is our firm foundation in our lives, he is the only life worth building upon. The hope that is found in him through faith is where we must plant deep roots in order to anchor our soul. What is the purpose of an anchor? Or even roots for that matter? Are they not for the purpose of keeping a boat or a plant firmly in place despite the elements beating against it? A boat that is not anchored will surely drift when the winds beat against it. Even the largest of trees if they have poor roots will topple during a strong storm. Well my friends, if we delay in ensuring we are firmly anchored and rooted in Christ, we can be sure that we too will fall or drift away when life gets hard. Jesus will teach this principle in many different places. First, he would teach us this principle through the sermon on the mount. He would say in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.” Second, Jesus would teach this principle through the parable of the Sower. Regarding the seed sown on the rocky soil, the Lord would explain, “And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21) 
 
 There is a commonality between these two teachings of Christ, and that is this: if you are not firmly anchored upon the foundation of Christ, when life gets hard your faith will fail. We understand this principle very well I believe, but I want to ask a different question for the remainder of our time: when is the right time to start planting deep roots? I want to challenge you who are listening, especially those of you who are young Christians or those of you who have young children. We must take our faith seriously, and our faith must become our own. So when is the right time to start anchoring our faith and planting deep roots in Christ? I would suggest that it should start as soon as a child can begin to understand even the most basic concepts of who God is. Far too often, we don’t emphasize faith and service in the lives of our children. We treat faith as though it is simply something for adults, the “real workers” in the church. But my friends, if you wait until children get older and when life starts to get difficult – if they are not already firmly anchored, what do you think is going to happen to their faith? Is it any wonder why so many young people as soon as they experience their first real trials in life fly far off away from the place they once stood spiritually – why? Because either they, or those stewarding over them, neglected to ensure they were properly anchored and grounded until it was too late. And so, today I implore you…what are you waiting for? Do not delay ensuring that you and your household are firmly anchored in faith in Christ – because you never know when the next big storm will come out of nowhere. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 4 episode 6 – and I’m so thankful that you decided to tune in today! A new episode is dropped each Friday, so be sure to listen in again next week! Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, as well as share it with someone else – it would help me greatly in trying to reach others. And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.