Friday, June 21, 2013

A Trusting Heart

John Ortberg wrote in his book, Love Beyond Reason:


"If I want to fully experience the love of Jesus, I must receive one of the most important gifts he sends me--his teaching...I must trust that he is right--about everything. And that therefore where I disagree with him I must either be wrong, or not yet understand what it was he was saying. I must allow Jesus to teach me how to live." 

Wow, that's powerful. Have you been there? 
  • "But, God, why is the cancer back?"
  • "God, I thought you told our family to do this, but it's not working out like I thought it was going to."
  • "God, how come those people don't ever seem to suffer, but all that I see in my life is trouble."
  • "God, how come I struggle with ______ , but have done nothing but serve you faithfully."

One thing I know for sure is that God is good. He does not delight in troubles, as in ever. Is he using them as growing opportunities in your life? Well probably. Is he trying to teach you something? Perhaps. But, maybe not. Sin brings trouble much of the time. Maybe there's nothing you did to cause it, but the sin in the world is always going to affect us, because this is a broken human race, and that's what we were born into--a world full of sin. Sometimes trials provide the best opportunities for us to be thankful, amen?

God can do what he wants, and he has that right as the creator of the entire universe. If all he did was save us and that's it, shouldn't we still praise him? I know for a fact that he does not want us to suffer, because our God came to earth as a human to save our lives by laying down his own. Does that sound like the kind of God who likes to see you suffer? Um...no. 

So what's the point I'm getting to? If we don't understand God, and we don't know what he's doing with our lives right now, I just want to remind someone out there to trust. He always has your best interest at heart. If you find yourself questioning that, stop for a moment and ask yourself what you're missing. You may not understand God's will in this moment, but please be confident that it's part of a greater plan. God never wastes a moment to use your struggle or hardship for good. He won't miss it. Never. He will use you, where you are, in this hard spot, and he's going to use it for his glory. Maybe you'll see it now, or far down the road, or hey, maybe never. That's just how cool God is. He's the soon-returning, glorious Lord of all creation, and he cares about your troubles. He has a plan, and you may not be in on all of the details, so trust.

Today I'm choosing to trust him about everything, and if I don't understand or see where he's going with things, I still choose trust. To experience Jesus, I must read his book, learn from his words, and listen to his voice. The Bible is full of life-giving wisdom, audacious people, miraculous miracles, gobs of hope, love, and peace, and enough challenging moments to keep your soul busy for a lifetime. I've heard people say the Bible is boring. Now, does that sound boring to you? :) 


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