“The Lord earnestly waits – expectant, looking, and longing -- to be gracious to you; that He may show loving kindness, and have mercy, and give favor, and victory, and peace, and love, and joy, (and the best part of all...) and matchless, unbroken fellowship with Himself.” (Isaiah 30:18, Amplified Bible)
Have you ever had trouble trusting people? We are lied to all of our lives by many whom we are supposed to be able to trust. We even feel like God lets us down sometimes. We put our faith and trust in Him, and things do not work out the way we think they should. We get hurt, depressed, frustrated and ANGRY; and then we start fighting back to protect our self, even when all we usually need to do is to obtain clarification before over-reacting.
After 40 years of life, I ran out of steam!!! I was so tired of fighting all of the bad circumstances in my life and of getting tossed around by the depression and anxiety, which accompanied them. I kept saying, "God, I can’t trust, because life hurts." I walked around almost holding my breath. In fact, I ended up hyperventilating all the time, because I never took deep breaths of life-giving air! I continually braced myself against the next painful experience, never knowing when it would swoop down upon me.
I commited my life to Jesus 32 years prior to this point in my life. You would think I would have more faith after all of that time! But, some mountains just will not move. My faith could not budge them! Therefore, I went to the Bible yet again to find out why I did not have enough faith. I read every verse that pertains to faith, but I did not find a clue. Then, I prayed. I prayed for weeks for God to show me what was wrong with my faith…not a word did He speak to me about my concerns.
Then, one day, while I read through the Gospels again, I ‘happened’ upon Mark 9:29. The boy’s father said, "Lord, I believe." Then, in the SAME breath he said, “Help my unbelief." I was stunned! What was this all about? He believed, but yet he asked God to help his unbelief?
Then, I realized what God was trying to tell us by relating this story: Our place...is to make a commitment to believe. God’s promise...is to help us to believe.
What does the word “unbelief” mean? UNBELIEF is to.…”distrust... coming from the dim observations and the weak doubts of our mortal nature. It is our human resistance that lies at the base of our lack of confidence in meeting life head on.”
The darkest hour is just before dawn. When we are drowning in doubt, we just need to look to the Son...because our redemption is near. His grace is sufficient to help us stand against doubt. His strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). His grace will make the difference in our faith. He never gives us the grace ahead of time, either. He gives us grace for one moment at a time.
God does not want a crowd of strong, bold, impetuous Saints running around the earth doing His work. HE wants to do His work in us and through us. He is the vine...we are the branches. He has everything we need for an abundant life. He is just waiting on a yielded vessel through which He can work.
The key to opening the door to trust is to entirely surrender to the Lord. Have you ever noticed that God does not work on our timetable!!! He can do in one day what it would take us a thousand years to accomplish. AND He can make one day seem to us like a thousand years! Think about the day the rent is due and the bank account is empty. That one day can seem like a thousand years, can't it?
Bad things are always going to happen to us in this sin-cursed world! But, God works ALL things, even the bad things, out for our good (Romans 8:28). Every negative circumstance holds the seed for a miracle, if we will only believe.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when we are drowning in the pain of life, we do not have to be strong. You simply want us to yield to Your will and to perfectly trust in You (John 14:27). You call us to live a surrendered life and to look for the seed of a miracle in every negative circumstance. We merely need to say, "Lord, I believe...help my unbelief."
Thought for the Day:
His strength is perfected in our weakness.
