TRUST

In my experience of our great and mighty Lord, He has always been gentle and kind in the way He teaches me. Even in the midst of great discipline (because as a Father, he disciplines those He loves), He has never made me feel condemnation or shame for my behaviour (or lack of understanding). God is a gentleman, and will never leave your side while you're learning to restructure your thinking, or learn new behavior patterns, or even give up bad habits. He is FULL of grace, even when you screw up time and time again.

In saying that, I know that our beautiful God would be much more gracious in His words and actions than what I am about to say, but I am not Him. I needed someone to say it to me recently, so I am going to say it to you: IF you call yourself a "Christian" or one who follows Jesus, THEN YOU MUST LEARN TO TRUST GOD!

Do you believe in God?

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins?

Do you believe that God is "all powerful" and that He can do anything?

Do you believe that He cares about you?

Do you believe that He cares about what your future looks like, and how you fit into it?

Do you believe that you MATTER to Him?

If you answered yes to these questions (even only "most" of them)..........then what gives you and I the audacity to WORRY about things????

When I say "worry, " I'm not talking about asking for prayer about a sick relative or a financial situation gone wrong, or a broken relationship. God loves it when we come to Him in prayer and ask Him to show off His muscles and help us. I'm talking about when we get so consumed with these issues that it turns into actual WORRY and we can hardly concentrate on the beautiful things because we are being tormented by thoughts of the things that concern us.

There's the famous passage in Matthew chapter 6 that I can read over and over again about worry. God's words don't return void, so that would definitely help. BUT, what I've come to realize is that many believers use Matt.6 as a "band aid" to help for the time being, but in reality they don't actually BELIEVE God.

So I'm SHOUTING IT OUT today (for my own benefit, and yours), that GOD CAN BE TRUSTED. He's faithful, isn't he? Jesus said that the devil was the "father of lies," not God (John 8:44)....so if God is TRUTH, LOVE, KINDNESS, FAITHFUL....If he always keeps His promises because HE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ELSE...then why don't we believe Him?

The Bible also says that God is not a liar...that He cannot change...that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So if this is true as well, then it's simple: He has to keep His promises. It is not in His nature or capacity to do otherwise. God must remain faithful.

So if God promises to "not harm you," then you will not be harmed unless you allow harm to come upon yourself (again, because of His free will to you). See some of His promises below:

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

And again, Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

What about Psalm 89:33, "..but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness."

And Psalm 91:9,10, "If you make the Most High your dwelling--even the Lord, who is my refuge--then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent."

Isaiah 45: 2, 3, "I will go before you and will level the mountains, I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."

Finally, Jesus Himself proclaims in John 10:10, "The thief [satan] comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!"

So if God cannot lie.....if God MUST keep His promises to us.....then why do we worry? WHY WORRY?????

I know this isn't my usual writing style but I am really fired up about this today. I have spent almost 30 years of my life being WORRIED about things that ALWAYS have worked out better than I could have imagined. And I watch my friends and family get sucked into the same lies that I have....being tormented by worry that God sees as a little speck of nothingness He can easily wipe away.

Trust God. And if you can't......maybe you need to get to know Him again (or for the first time). Our trust in Him is one of the keys that separates us as Christians from the rest of the world.