In my more than seven decades on this earth, I learned many interesting insights about life. One of them is to value trials and tribulation (James 1:2-3). Crazy, you say? No, I am not delusional. Trials taught me to know without a doubt that I am truly loved. Over the years, God proved His love for me through His intervention in every negative circumstance in my life.
My faith grew by leaps and bounds with each experience in my life. My perseverance and endurance strengthened, my weaknesses were replaced by new depths of character, I had more compassion for others, and my identity as God’s adopted child and co-heir with Jesus are more of a reality to me today than they were in my late teens - when I first asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to save me.
When I face a storm, rather than cowering from its fierceness, I look for the seed for a miracle that God planted within it. Our Father God is bigger than any issue we will ever experience in our lifetime, and as we place our trust in Him and keep our focus on Him, He sustains us through it all (Isaiah 26:3).
Attempting to control life is as useless as trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. When we realize that our loving, generous, compassionate, powerful, and wise Heavenly Father has everything under His control, we can relinquish our insecurities to Him, and He helps us to overcome our unbelief (Mark 9:24).
Our Daddy God gives us spiritual eyes and ears to see past our human limitations and to put our faith in Him. We surrender our insecurities and concerns into His capable hands and loving heart, and we praise His name and goodness forevermore.
Prayer:
Father God, You astound us with Your omnipotence (supremely powerful), omnipresence (everywhere at once), and omniscience (all-knowing). Thank You for Your wisdom to traverse today, Your strength to face tomorrow, and Your forgiveness that enables us to relinquish the past. You give us spiritual maturity and persevering courage to push aside our human hesitations and to walk in the faith of Your calling for our life (Ephesians 2:10).
Remind us that rather than focusing on our anxiety and concerns, we can focus on Jesus as our center of serenity and joy regardless of circumstances (James 1:2-3). Even when we are weary or overcome by life, help us not to fixate on useless contemplations of what “may” happen, but on Your track record in our life as You prove Yourself faithful, loving, compassionate and kind to us in every way.
Thought for the Day:
If we listen to and believe Satan’s lies which he plants in our thoughts, then nagging fears and doubts have a way of undermining our faith; however, when we walk in step with God’s Holy Spirit’s direction at all times, in every way, and in everything we experience - no matter how traumatic - trials work out for our eventual benefit.
- Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11
