Trust

Job 13:15

Trust can be a hard thing to come by in our modern world. I've heard from a young age the old saying, "trust is earned, not given." I believe God has more than earned our trust, not that He has to earn anything. He is the Most High, the creator of everything, the Source of all life.

Concerning the matter of trust, I can really only speak for myself. I have been through a lot these past few years, and I have stubbornly dug my heels in and put my full trust in Christ Jesus and my wise and loving Father God. I have recently experienced some anxiety with some of the things that have been happening. I do not see the anxiety as evidence of a lack of trust, rather, evidence that I am human. God knows we are weak and we all have our breaking points (Psalm 103:13-14).

My wife and I have gone through so much in the past few years that we have started asking "what next?". When I think of all we have been through, looking through the eyes of a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ, I see three possibilities for why we have been experiencing these trials:

1. It has nothing to do with me at all. It may be for someone else to learn something (John 9:1-3).

2. It may be for a purification or strengthening of our faith (1 Peter 1:3-7).

3. (And this is my favorite possibility) To take us deeper into our relationship with Him in revealing Himself more fully to us (Job 42:5).

I have come to be thankful for things I don't understand, because when we come out on the other side, we see a little more clearly and have a little more understanding in who our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, wise and loving Father is and a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. There are not words sufficient to say how wonderful God is. I guess if I could choose the words, they would be "Thank you."

God is AWESOME!

Dad

Romans 8:12-17

In the old testament, forgiveness depended on the sacrifices the priests would offer for themselves, their families and Isreal (Leviticus 16).

Only the priest was allowed in the temple while the offereings were being made. No one else could be in the tent(Leviticus 16:17). If God accepted the sacrifices, then priest would live and the people would be forgiven until the next year. But that is not us today. Everything the priest did in the tent pointed directly to Christ Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Jesus became our scapegoat (Leviticus 16:20-22). He has given us the right to be children of God(John 1:9-12). As His adopted children, God invites us to call Him by the familiar name Abba (Romans 8:12-17). Abba is a very familiar name, an intimate name between a father and his chilren: Daddy.

Jesus is our High Priest. We are now able to come boldy to the throne of the Father. We may come to Him with our needs and our worries because He is our wise and loving Father. Boldy, not disrespectfully. Boldy but reverently. He is our Father and our God. He is Holy, the Most High. Not the big guy, not the man upstairs, not your buddy.

So, as His children, we represent Him in this world. We ought to behave in a way that reflects who we are in Christ. Live a life of gratitude to our saviour who has shielded us from the wrath of a Holy God. He has made us clean and gives us the ability to stand in the presence of the glory of God with no wrong in us and He has given us great joy (Jude 24).

God is AWESOME!

It's Personal

One of the most amazing things about God, to me, is how in Christ, He has millions of followers and He has a personal one on one relationship with all of us.

How is this possible?

With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

In I Peter 1:3-7, Peter talks about our inheritance in Christ. Verse 6 he says that some are grieved, if necesary, by various trials. I fixated on if nesessary. How would He know when or if it were necessary unless He knows us on a deeply personal level. And through the trials He brings us, leads us into a deeper understanding of who He is.

We develop a deeply personal relationship with our God in Christ Jesus.

I have, and still am, learning to rejoice in my trials and sufferings. I have learned that instead of saying "What's next", to say "Thank you, please take me deeper in my understanding." The trials and suffering are a gift. In them we grow in our understanding of who God is, we love Him more. We see more clearly how our lives are hidden in Him with Christ, and discern how safe and secure we are in Christ, how we are sealed by His Holy Spirit for all of eternity (Colossians 3:3 and Ephesians 1:13-14).

God is AWESOME!