Tag: God in control

What Is Trust?

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song, Video, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, Day 4

Trust is not giving up; trust is opening up. Opening our hearts to the possibility that maybe God really does know best. Maybe his wisdom and care and love are what we need most. And so, reluctantly at first, we open our hearts to trust in the middle of what we don’t always like or understand. But we open our hearts to a Father who knows best and has our best interests in mind, even if we can’t fully comprehend it. . . .

The struggle to trust and obey is real. But it’s also a necessary step toward growth and transformation.

Learning to trust God with what we don’t know is essential for being filled with God. If we are to increasingly experience the good life of following Jesus, we have to learn to trust like he did, often with what we can’t see or get our minds around.

This is one of the hardest parts of growing and being transformed in trials. Learning to surrender to what Jesus wants—his purposes, his plans, and his wisdom.

The Bible talks a lot about obedience. But the obedience God is after is not just an external conformity to what he says. It’s an inward alignment of our heart with his, even when we don’t understand what he is doing or why he is doing it.

Trust requires humility.

Trust requires saying, “I don’t understand, God, but you do.”

Trust requires admitting our powerlessness.

Trust requires giving up control.

When Jesus took the disciples out on the water and they found themselves surrounded by the storm, they realized they weren’t in control. They were helpless. They lacked the resources, the power, the wisdom to fix the situation. They were discovering what we all soon discover, that belief is not just faith in something, belief is faith in Someone. God is at the center. We follow him. He doesn’t follow us.

Their first response was fear. They had obeyed him before. But out on the water, in the world of the unknown, they were learning to trust him. 

If we don’t trust God, inevitably, we will try to be God. And we’ll try to control what only he can control. What God is really interested in is our trust.

My Thoughts

It is a really big thing for me that “trust” is the theme for today since that is my word for this year. The definitions of trust here spoke to my heart and soul and let me know that I am not there yet. I am still at times reaching to control things, to change circumstances, instead of letting God do things for me. The part in the devotional that says we align with God and follow Him instead of His following us pierced me. I realized that I frequently want God to get in step with my plans instead of seeking what His plans are and following them. I think in our humanity, we all want to be in control and have difficulty relinquishing it to God. I don’t want to try to be God; I want Him to be the center of my life, in the pilot’s seat of my airplane so He can take me where He want me to go. That’s a hard thing for me because I don’t like unknown things. I plan routes in advance so I know exactly what lane I need to be in for the next turn. God is telling me clearly to let go and let Him make the plans. Because I can trust Him with all the details of all the unknowns.

Trust in God-Elevation Worship

The Prison of Waiting

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/26293/day/6

I never thought of waiting as a kind of prison, but I think the authors of this devotional have a point. We are all waiting for something…a special letter in the mail, a payment that we are anticipating, a visit from loved ones, or even an election to be over. We are all waiting, sometimes with excitement and other times with a sense of dread. Whatever we are waiting for, we can know with certainty that God is with us in the waiting. I want to be like Joseph and receive God’s favor as I wait. I must admit that doesn’t always happen, and I think that is mostly due to my impatient and demanding attitude. I need to learn how to wait with expectation for what God will do in every situation regardless of how hard or impossible it seems.

Prayer request: a man named Jeff in his mid-50’s has had a series of strokes and has extensive brain damage. The doctors are recommending surgery to help him live, but with surgery, his brain will be so damaged that he will have to live in a nursing home for the rest of his life. Thank you in advance for praying for wisdom for the doctors, peace and comfort for Jeff’s family and friends and a touch from the healing hand of the Lord. Jeff is in a waiting room that none of us wants to face, so let’s unite in prayer for him.

S

Telling Is Important

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/13696/day/20

The faith we have is meant to be shared with the next generation. They need to hear about how we came to believe in the Lord Jesus and all that He has done for us during our lifetimes. It isn’t enough that they see our lives, although that should be a good witness to them. They also need to hear the stories. I think I have told all of my children and grandchildren my testimony but since my memory is faulty, it will not hurt to tell them again. It is in the telling that I am reminded to God’s goodness to me just as I am telling others about all that He has done. Just as the stones were set up by Israel when they crossed the Jordan River, I have memories from all of the churches we attended and what I learned there. I have Bibles marked with verses from various sermons by various pastors and notes that I have taken over the years, both in my Bible and in notebooks. You may not think so, but your children and grandchildren need the evidence of your faith shown to them so that when times get hard for them, they can look back and remember to keep the evidence of God’s working in them and their own faith. God does everything for a reason; we often don’t understand it at the time, or ever here on earth, but God has a plan and a purpose and He knows what He is doing. I needed to remind myself of that today as our oldest grandson is facing a tremendous medical burden. Please pray for him and for his family. I don’t know what God is doing here, but I know that He is control and can take care of cancer and all of its ill effects just as He took care of me when I had a stroke. God is good…always and in all ways, even when we don’t understand.