Since the Lord lives, we are assured that ALL things will work together for our good. This is His promise to all those who love Him and who live according to His purpose for us. We can rely on God’s promises and look forward to their fulfillment in our life (Romans 8:28).
President Bush, Sr. told the story about a boy who offered this simple prayer at bedtime: "God, bless my Mommy, and my Daddy, and my brother and sister. And God... do take care of Yourself...because if anything ever happened to You, we'd all be sunk." I love that!
Why do we find it so hard to trust and to believe in the goodness of the Lord? One reason is that we take the Lord for granted. We expect Him to bail us out of our troubles (Psalm 106:7; John 12: 37-38). Also, we do not stand on what we know as truth (Isaiah 7:9), and we do not totally trust in and rely on the Lord at all times (Matthew 13:58).
Another reason is because Satan is very quick to blind us by his lies and deception (Luke 8:12). Then, shamefully, at times of temptation we walk in disobedience and/or are double-minded (Hebrews 4:6 & 11; James 1:6-8). Thankfully, if we ask Him to help us, God steps in and relieves our unbelief.
God is faithful to us, even when we fail to obey Him (Romans 10:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Mark 9:24; 2 Timothy 2:13). He probably will not bless us in the way we want Him to, but He will bless us in the way we need Him to. Sometimes we turn the concept of believing into a mountain that seems impossible to climb.
The simple truth is found in Hebrews 11:6. It tells us what we must believe: "Anyone who comes to God must believe only two things:
1. That He exists.
2. That He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
Prayer:
Father God, You tell us to cast all our cares upon You, because You care about us (1 Peter 5:17). Your Word tells us that we do not have, because we do not ask, or because we ask with selfish motives. Remind us to come to You when we need something, and then leave the method and timing of Your supply up to You (James 4:1-3).
We know that You exist and reward us, because of Your past deeds on our behalf as well as Your future promises. With Biblical belief in our heart, we can live victoriously in whatever plan You assign to us, because You are worthy of our trust. Thank You that we can live in the center of Your will with Your peace ruling and reigning in our heart (Philippians 4:6-9).
Thought for the Day:
When we abandon the idea of constantly living as a victim of our circumstances, we are able to rise up victoriously; the Serenity Prayer Principle advises us that if we cannot repair the issue on our own, we turn it over to God. We can do everything through Christ who abides within us when we walk in His Spirit because this is a guarantee of a victorious life.
- Philippians 4:13; Hebrews 11:6; Galatians 5:15-25
