One of my five year old son’s favorite movies is Disney’s Cars. And not only is there one Cars movie, there are three! I have to admit, it’s one of my favorite Disney movies. It’s the story of Lightning McQueen, a young and fast rookie race car who learns the hard lesson that having friends and being kind are more important than winning a race. Cars 2 takes Lightning McQueen on an adventure to races in Tokyo, Japan and Italy, and England. Then in Cars 3, we see a much older Lightning McQueen. He’s had a long and successful career, but isn’t ready to retire yet. There is a younger, newer and faster race car named Jackson Storm, and Lightning realizes he needs help to prepare for a race against him. He gets matched up with a young race trainer named Cruz Ramirez.
Cruz and Lightning don’t see eye to eye at first, Lightning isn’t very fond of Cruz’s new high tech methods of training. Over time we see a friendship develop, and over time it becomes evident that Cruz is actually supposed to be a racer, not a trainer. She never planned to just sit on the sidelines and be a trainer for other cars, she used to dream to race!
Then, the unimaginable happens! During a practice race, Cruz beats Lightning! Lightning is a little taken back by this at first, but he soon realizes that this Cruz truly is a race car. It’s just that she’s been told her whole life that she isn’t, even though she had always dreamed of being a race car. She’s also been placed in a position that is below her calling.
Cruz has started to believe lies. She was built and designed to be a race car. It’s her destiny and her calling so to speak (in a car world of course) Somewhere along the way though, her true identity, that she was built and designed to be a race car, was compromised. She started believing the lies being spoken to her. She was never meant to stay in the position of race car trainer.
The Mighty Call on Your Life
I’m so strongly gripped with how often this happens to God’s daughters. Every single one of you has a mighty, mighty calling. And when I say mighty, I don’t necessarily mean the most visible calling. I mean a mighty calling that is powerful because he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). It’s mighty because of the confidence we are meant to have in God’s calling, God’s placement, and God’s destiny in our lives. It is a unique position, that God designed for you, from the moment of conception! Just like Cruz was built to be a race car, God has built you for your destiny and purpose, from your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:16), he created you to be a racer. To run your race.
The author of Hebrews (AMP) says it this way in chapter 12:1-3…
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].
Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
What is so key in this verse is where it says, ‘stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us’, and ‘looking away from all that will distract us’. Many of us set out to run our race and have our eyes set on Jesus, to ‘consider and meditate on Him’. But we forget that the Bible tells us that during our race, we have to actively be stripping off every unnecessary weight and sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us. Wow. So EASILY and CLEVERLY entangles us! And, we are told to look away from all that will distract us.
The Great Accuser
The enemy is the great accuser and a great liar. He knows if he can distract you from who God made you to be, a mighty daughter of the king who is equipped and prepared to run the race set before you, that you will shrink back and take your eyes off of Jesus. Watch from the side lines. Watch everyone else running their race and think things like this, “Those dreams I used to have must not have been from God, I just don’t see how this could possibly happen.” Or “Wow, I thought I was called to (insert your dream here) but I’ll never be as qualified as that person is!” By declaring those lies and believing those things of yourself, you’ve just come into agreement with Satan’s accusations against you.
To understand how Satan works against God’s people, you must understand how he operates. Revelation 12:10 states the following:
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
Ladies, hear this. The enemy is an accuser that will accuse you and disqualify you, even before you begin. It says he accuses us day and night! He doesn’t stop, which means we always have to be on guard of the fiery darts of lies he is sending our way. He entangles us by entangling our mind with his lies. If we bite into his lies and take our eyes off of Jesus and the authority and victory we have as daughters of the king and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), then we began to watch the race from the sidelines. We don’t think we are qualified to join in the race. But if we recognize that the lie the enemy is feeding us are intentionally trying to get us to stay out of the race, we can learn to take those thoughts captive to Jesus! (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Colossians 2:15 says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities [Satan’s whole evil kingdom], he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities of Satan’s whole evil kingdom, his lies have no power over us if we take them captive and make them come into obedience with the power and victory of the cross!
Who are you?
You must instead align your mind with the truth of the word of God, who does he say you are? You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)! You are chosen (1 Peter 2:9)! You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)! You are his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)! You are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)! You are a daughter of God (Romans 8:14)!
It is he that qualifies you for the race, not yourself. Don’t let the lies of the enemy disqualify you from even beginning the race he has set before you! It’s not by your own power that you are qualified, it’s his power (the Holy Spirit) through you (Zechariah 4:6). If you disqualify yourself you are saying his power isn’t enough to work through you. Do you really want to stand before Jesus and say that you didn’t believe his power was strong enough to work through you to bring forth your destiny?
Do you really want to stand before Jesus and say that you didn’t believe his power was strong enough to work through you to bring forth your destiny?
Seasons of Training
What’s interesting and very important about Cruz Ramirez is that it’s not a bad thing that she was placed in a position as a trainer – for a season. We are to walk in our calling in confidence and humility (but not false humility), which means we need to go through seasons of training. But these seasons of training are not meant to restrain us, they are meant to train us!
Cruz had fallen into the trap that because she was placed as a trainer, that that was her identity. You see, she had forgotten the identity that her maker had given her. She was a car designed and built to be a racer, not a trainer. But instead, she lost sight of what her maker said, and she believed what everyone else said. She missed the opportunity of her assignment that was meant to prepare her. So the very assignment that was supposed to train her into strength so she would have victory and success when her opportune time came to race, tricked her into believing for much less than the ultimate destiny she was meant to have.
These seasons of training are not meant to restrain us,
they are meant to train us!
You see, Cruz was strategically placed around successful race cars to help them achieve their destiny, and to learn what it was like to be a race car. She needed to be around the track so to speak. We see this many times in the Bible, the most obvious one is King David. He had literally been anointed as the next King of Israel, but it was unbeknownst to the current king of Israel, King Saul. Once anointed to be the next king, David is then positioned to serve the current king and play music for him. While doing this he “learns the ropes” and he gets an inside perspective of the life of a king.
It was training! Strengthening! David grew in strength and wisdom, but only because he submitted himself to the process. If David would have doubted God’s anointing in his life and taken his eyes off of his race, the training would have been wasted and he may have missed it and never become king. Instead, he placed his trust in God, trusted that he was called, he was positioned, and he was anointed to be the next king of Israel, no matter what his current circumstances seemed to appear in the natural! That was David’s race that was set before him! Cruz, on the other hand, had let the views and opinions of others who didn’t see her as a racer to become her identity, and she took her eyes off of her race and she believed that all she would ever be was a trainer.
The Real Reason Satan Tries to Distract You
The good news for Cruz is that she crossed paths with Lightning McQueen. Lightning saw in that moment of a practice race that Cruz was really a racer, not a trainer. He recognized her true identity and purpose. When it comes time for Lightning’s race against Jackson Storm, he gets part way through the race, then he knows what he has to do, he puts Cruz in to race for him!
At first Cruz is a little uncertain, makes a few wild moves, but with Lightning’s coaching from the pit, she soon catches up to Jackson Storm. This is the key moment, she is neck and neck with him! She is racing her race! Then the unthinkable happens. Exactly what Hebrews 12:1-3 says, Jackson Storm feeds her lies that easily and cleverly entangle her mind and she is distracted.
Jackson Storm pulls up next to her, “Hey costume girl. You look the part, can’t have everyone thinking you don’t deserve to be here. They don’t need to know what you and I already do. That you can play dress up all you want, but you’ll never be one of us.”
Cruz, obviously distraught and feeling insecure, slows down. Quickly, Lightning responds from the pit, “Cruz, did you see what happened there?” “Yeah,” she replies, “he’s in my head.” “NO!” Lightning says. “Listen to me. You’ve gotten into his head. Don’t you understand?! He would never have done that if you didn’t scare him! He sees something in you that you don’t see in yourself! You made me believe it, now you got to believe it too! You are a racer! Use that!”
What is it that Lightning is telling Cruz to use? If Jackson didn’t think Cruz was a threat, he wouldn’t be wasting his time trying to tell her lies. If Satan didn’t think YOU were a threat, that your destiny was a threat, he wouldn’t waste time trying to tell YOU lies!
If Satan didn’t think YOU were a threat, that your destiny was a threat,
he wouldn’t waste time trying to tell YOU lies!
Cruz realizes what Lightning says is true, and she pulls ahead, right behind Jackson, she sees her move to win the race and she pulls next to him. He responds by quickly pinning her to the wall. “You don’t belong on this track!” Jackson yells at her. Cruz, finally in full confidence, complete identity as a race car, shouts out, “YES I DO!” as she flips out from the wall and over Jackson, lands on the track, and wins the race.
Do you realize, that like Cruz, the enemy feeds you lies because you are a threat to him, and you have a mighty calling to advance the kingdom of God – to run your race set before you? You are not called to sit on the side lines!
Here is my prayer for you. That you would be so confident with your calling to run the race set before you that every time Satan tries to tell you that you don’t belong on the track, you shout out “YES I DO!” and use the sword of truth to declare who you are in Christ! Are you ready to step in? Are you ready to silence the lies, once and for all? Let me be the Lightning McQueen in your life. You, beautiful daughter. You belong in this race!
Pray with me.
Father God, I don’t want to sit on the sidelines, I want to run the race you set before me! Draw me close to you and teach me to recognize the lies of the enemy. Help me recognize what isn’t your truth. Bring your living Word to life within my being, may it permeate my heart and my mind. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen!
