Soul Fuel

A Daily Devotional

Bear Grylls

• Publisher: Hodder Faith
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781529387094
• eBook ISBN:
  9781529387070
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Bestselling author Bear Grylls has survived a free-fall parachute accident that left him with a broken back, possibly unable to walk again; falling down a mountain in the Rockies, severing a finger in the Vietnam jungle, a broken shoulder in Antarctica. He passed the gruelling training to join the SAS, crossed the North Atlantic in an open inflatable boat, and held the highest ever open-air formal dinner party, in a balloon at 25, 000 feet.But the hardest thing he has ever had to face, he says, is the death of his father. It was then, age 25, that he found what he describes in an interview with the Telegraph as 'a really lovely quiet faith that has been a powerful thing in our lives'.As he wrote in GQ magazine, 'Faith doesn't mean you have to be especially "religious". But, in a nutshell, my faith tells me that I am known, that I am secure and that I am loved - regardless of the storms I may find myself in from time to time, regardless of how often I fall and fail.'For the first time, in this open, brave and honest book, Bear reveals the inspiration that helps him to stand strong and find peace each day. These daily readings - exploring themes of friendships, failure, courage, risk, and much more - show us all how to face each day with purpose and power. 'Be brave. Embrace faith wherever you may find it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.'

RISK

THE SECOND TIME I saw the summit of Everest, I was alone. Instead of climbing the mountain, my friend Gilo and I were each flying a powered paraglider, which is basically just a parachute with a propeller engine strapped to your back. We were higher than anyone had ever flown a powered paraglider before. It was minus 65 degrees, oxygen levels were dangerously low, and we were still some five thousand feet below the summit.

Then, all of a sudden, Gilo’s engine developed a fault and stopped. He had no choice but to glide down and turn back. I suddenly felt vulnerable and alone without my wingman. But I knew this was our chance. The weather and wind conditions were as good as we would ever get up there. For us both, I pressed on.

It was both humbling and terrifying to look down on those giant Himalayan peaks below me; they all looked tiny. The fear inside kept trying to rise up within my throat, but I knew I could do this. I just had to keep going, keep looking up, and have faith that I could make it. There was so much that could go wrong. There always is in life. But sometimes we have to push the fears and doubts aside, look up and press on.

That expedition was worth the risk. We achieved a world first, we fulfilled the dream, and we came back alive and as friends. Mission successful.

Life is so inherently full of risk that if we never train to deal with it we become woefully ill-prepared to cope with life. There is risk in relationships, business, hobbies and in all our aspirations and hopes. There is risk in living a life of faith. We might face ridicule, persecution and worse. But risk always has a converse positive side: it is called reward. And the game of life is to balance the two and seek the rewards.

But first will always come the risk.

Risk is like a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger our ability becomes to deal with the fear, judge the dangers and trust our instinct. The more risks we take, the bigger risks we can manage. We know what we can and can’t do.

If we never want to have an impact on anything or anyone, then we should stay at home, be ‘safe’, and accept the fact that there will be no ripples emanating from our lives. But if we want to live the fullest version of life possible, we need to become a ninja at dealing with risk. Sometimes we might push it a little far, and life will often sharply remind us of our limitations. Again, we must listen and learn from the universe. Stay alive, stay smart and learn from the lessons.

Weirdly, as I look back on that Everest mission, the most dangerous part of that whole adventure wasn’t when we were up in Everest’s death zone. It was beforehand, at home in England, getting ready to leave. A helicopter was filming one of our early test flights, and as we reached five thousand feet, I got hit by the rotor wash when the chopper flew too close in front of us. I got violently spun upside down, over and over, lines all wrapped and tangled. I was falling fast and knew I was about to die. To make matters worse, I had been foolishly flying with no reserve chute in an effort to save weight.

By the grace of God, a small part of the main canopy was inflated just enough to stop my fall, though I still crashed into the ground at high speed. But I survived. I knew I should have died that day. The chances of the prop not having cut the lines or the chute not being a little more wrapped as I fell were slim. The consequences would have been terminal.

It was the second time I had nearly died falling from the sky, the first time being my skydiving accident in Africa while I was serving in the British Special Forces. This latest incident somehow felt like an even closer call. Even though I learned vital lessons about paragliding near helicopters and about always carrying a spare chute, it didn’t put me off the actual Everest adventure itself.

Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us smarter, and our experience is really just the sum of all our near misses. I am not advocating that we should take this level of risk all the time, but life should also be an adventure.

And in terms of faith, the rewards will always far outstrip the risks. Faith is a battle that has already been won for us. Christ Himself bore all the real risk and prevailed. Our journey is to surf a little bit of the wake of His risk and to claim the great reward of His salvation. It’s a gift He longs to share.

We shouldn’t try to avoid the scars that inevitably accompany risk and a life well lived. I’m covered with marks and scars, and they each tell a story. I like that. I’ve learned that life doesn’t require us to be perfect and free of blemishes. What a waste that would be, bereft of history and endeavour. Life simply requires that we keep on giving of ourselves and that we keep getting back on our feet.

Life says not to fear the risk but to use it. Life reminds us that risk is the key to all growth and progress in life, love, faith and adventure.

1 DEEP ROOTS, GREEN

THE TEACHING OF JESUS is widely acknowledged to be the greatest of all time. We have advanced so much in science and technology, yet in the last two thousand years no one has ever improved on the moral teaching of Jesus. His are the greatest words ever spoken.

Whatever we’re facing, however great the risks, and no matter how many fears and doubts are pressing in on us, we can hold on to this truth:

Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,

whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7–8

Those same words that were written thousands of years ago are just as true today. When we take a risk to trust God, we begin the greatest adventure of our lives. We do not fear the heat, we have no need to worry in the drought, and our lives will bear much fruit. That’s life in Christ.

2 THE LIVING ARK OF THE COVENANT

AS A BOY I was determined that I would be the one to find the ark of the covenant. Indiana Jones 2.0. I wanted to be an explorer and a warrior, and to find the source of eternal life! (Hey, you got to dream big, eh?)

The irony is that the ark itself doesn’t contain jewels or bones, nor some magic potion for eternal youth. The ark contains the old stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. It is a marker. It points the way. The ark of the covenant is the precursor to the living covenant that is fulfilled in Christ Himself. Christ is the living ark that leads us all home to God.

The irony is that I got to become all the things my heart hoped for as a child. And I found the ark! Because we are all explorers and warriors of faith, and in Christ we have found the very keys to eternal life.

Nowadays, when I kneel down and read these beautiful words, I know the reason I was born: that through grace, I can now walk hand in hand with the Lord.

The LORD your God is with you,

the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you.

Zephaniah 3:17

3 BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD

A LAWYER NAMED CHARLES Finney regularly preached in New York churches in the 1830s. A lot of fellow lawyers came to hear him speak, including, one night, the chief justice of New York.

As the chief justice listened silently from way up in the gallery, he concluded that everything Finney said about Christ, based on the evidence presented, held true. The chief justice felt a stirring in his heart to take positive action rather than passively doing nothing. He left his seat and went to the back of the stage.

While Finney was still preaching, the chief justice tapped on his shoulder and whispered to Finney. When he had finished, Finney turned back and looked at the faces staring at him: ‘The chief justice says that if I call people forward, he will come too. I ask you to come forward now if you would like to receive Christ into your heart.’

The chief justice went forward, and so did almost every lawyer in Rochester, New York. It is said that one hundred thousand people discovered faith in the next twelve months in that area.¹

Life is full of choices. They really matter, and sometimes, as with the chief justice, they have life-affirming consequences for other people as well.

At age sixteen I made a quiet choice to ask Christ to come into my life and help me through my days. It felt like an edgy, scary choice to make at the time. The best decisions are always a little like that at first. But that decision has influenced every part of me from that moment forward − for the stronger, for the better. I know now where I stand.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

4 THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY

IT’S TEMPTING TO POST ju...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Author
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Where It All Started
• Hope
• Purpose
• Determination
• Relationships
• Vision
• Wisdom
• Faithfulness
• Courage
• Forgiveness
• Freedom
• Risk
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Copyright