April was a month full of emotions as my youngest sister was diagnosed with cancer. Then we found out the cancer had spread another whammy in the emotional department. Oh, the storms of life are hard to ride out with our faith intact. I know God to be good, loving, kind, compassionate, forgiving, and merciful. It is at times difficult to see those qualities when faith is faltering and all hell is breaking lose. Faith is not an easy thing to cultivate; yet, it is required of us.
In Matthew 14 the disciples encountered a storm on the lake as they were sailing across it but when Jesus appeared out of nowhere it startled them and invoked fear. Why? They weren’t looking least of all expecting God to show up to help them. They were overcome with emotion so much so they didn’t even recognize Jesus as He approached them. Even the chosen twelve found it difficult at times to develop their faith; so, God used the storms of their life as teaching tools to help them learn to rely on Him alone. Reliance means we have an understanding that we can trust in the Lord even if we don’t know what He is up to.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!” The key here is that God will not abandon you no matter the battle you are facing or the storm that surrounds you. You may not always know what God is up to but He is going before you to help you. That should feed faith. Jesus says in John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Jesus had no intention of letting the disciples fend the storm off alone but He allowed them enough distance ahead to realize they couldn’t do it without Him. Oh, Faith is a challenging thing to grow and then remain in and yet it is essential to do.
We often demand evidence of God’s greatness and when that evidence is not produced in a manner we choose we usually respond with an outburst. It’s important to understand faith is personal, so the journey that it takes you on will be personal. Your faith is unique to you. It is designed that way because God is personal and so are the evidences He bestows upon us through fellowship. Avoid the fellowship you’ll miss the evidence.
There are two responses to the Lord: to receive Him and the challenges that accompany that journey or to run from Him and from the blessings that arise out of the journey. It is so much easier just to ditch God when life gets difficult or when our prayers don’t get answered the way we want, or we don’t like what He says… the harder thing to do is trust… oh trusting is so difficult, isn’t it? It’s acknowledging you have given control to someone else and that is scary, isn’t it. That is faith though…it’s scary and reassuring at the same time. Faith development isn’t for the faint of heart. Like a mature oak tree, we need deep roots, rooted in the foundation of Jesus Christ to sustain us through the storms of life as the winds threatened to upheaval us, and the waves drown us.
I don’t know what you are facing but it is my hope and prayer that you receive the Lord and trust Him. Do not let your emotions (especially anger) keep you alienated from God. Do not let how people represent God keep you apart from Him and do not let the storms of life keep you separate from God. When you call upon His name, know it is personal, He is a personal God, that desires to uphold you- in the fashion He chooses. Trust His judgment and know He will not abandon you ever. In Romans 8 the Apostle Paul assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Know there is a reason for the challenges that are before you and God will work them out for your benefit, if you will venture to trust Him. And know that God understands how difficult cultivating faith is; therefore, He is patient but still expectant.
Good Evening Ladies….
PS. Psalms 121
I look up toward the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth!
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