Imagine yourself in the beautiful high country of the Rocky Mountains. The air is crisp, the sun is bright and the sky is the most incredible shade of blue you have ever seen.

Suddenly as you take a deep breath you stumble on a rock and take a head first dive down a hill rolling several hundred yards until a giant rock breaks your fall. You hear a deafening snap and feel the incredible wincing pain as both your legs buckle. You know they’re broke. You know you’re alone. And you know you have no cell phone signal.

Your mind begins reeling; taking personal inventory, trying to figure out what you have that will help you out of this predicament you now find yourself facing.

It is here in this place where we find our survival instincts kicking in. This is where we find stories of survival; the place where heroes are born. In the situation I just described it is our instincts that will push us through to never give up and find a way to survive.

Unfortunately in our daily lives it is this same instinct that causes us to hold onto our fleshly needs and desires. When we allow ourselves to operate in survival mode on a day to day basis, we find ourselves making choices based on surviving; not on living the life God intended.

Today survival is a little different than when we had to run from dinosaurs and sabre tooth tigers, but our minds have made the perceived connections to re-define what it means to survive. Therefore if our job is our source of provision; If we lose our job, we die.

How many times have you even considered flexing your moral judgement so that you can meet a deadline, or beat the competition, or get that raise, or promotion?

How many times have you heard the phrase, “it’s not personal” or “that’s just how business is done”?

And how many times have we done something that we know is not quite on the up and up, for fear of being fired or disappointing our superiors.

The bible tells us in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

Have you let go of your instincts to survive in a culture that screams at us that we must be tolerant and that it’s only business? Do you trust the Living God who has extended an invitation to live in you?

Now please don’t hear me wrong here. I’m not here to point fingers at anyone. I am guilty of letting my guard down and doing business just to get business done. I’m not Enron but I’ve had to evaluate my moral compass and ask myself, “do I trust God in every area of my life, or do I find myself operating in survival mode; doing whatever my instincts tell me I need to in order to survive?”

Now I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but I need to trust that what God has promised is solid and true. I need to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone and include God in every decision I make, every day. I also know that the more I trust in Him and follow His lead, it will become easier.

Remember that we have the gift of choosing to allow God to live in us, and He will give us the wisdom we need to fulfill the life He has set out for us.

Proverbs 28:26
Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

Today, I choose God and as I take a deep breath I allow my sinful nature to die I begin to rely on the the only One that I can truly trust with my salvation. I choose to operate on God-Mode not survival mode today.

Will you join me?