Trusting God

"It often seems more difficult to trust God than to obey him" (Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, p. 17). This line comes from one of the many books I am reading at the moment. I am reading an insane number of books (I can't seem to stick to just one). I want to try and put a quote or talk about something I read in my blog. I think this one has a lot of implications. Initially, I agree with Bridges statement. Sometimes, it is easier to just go through the motions of obeying rather than wrestle with the sovereignty and goodness of God. But, upon further reflection, I would have to say that statement is not an absolute. For me, to obey God means I often have to trust him with certain parts of my life first. If God calls me to do something, but that means stepping out of my comfort zone or stepping out in faith, I will sometimes turn the other way and disobey what he calls me to do. Why? Because, I don't trust God. I fear he will let me down or abandon me. Through this book, I am beginning to gain a clearer idea of what it really means to believe in the sovereignty and goodness of God. I think, as Christians, we have a tendency to only believe in one of those 100% while we quietly and subtly deny the other one. Most often, we want to embrace God's love and goodness, but undermine his sovereignty. Bridges talks about this better than I can. He states that, "Often unwilling to accept the fact that God is working, because they don't understand how He is working, they have chosen to substitute the doctrine of chance for the doctrine of divine providence". How many times have you made the comment, "it's just mother nature", or "chance". These subtly undermine God's sovereignty and control. I have been guilty of this. I often struggle with bad things happening and God being in complete control of events. I think that comes from thinking too small. Bridges hit is home for me when he wrote, "Confidence in the sovereignty of God in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting Him. If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God's sovereign control then we cannot trust Him". Think about it, if natural disasters along with miracles can happen without God's control or willful permission, then we cannot trust him. Life would be a series of happenstance. But God is in control of what happens on a day to day occurrence. He is in control of whether I get a virus or infection, of getting the job or not, and of when I meet the right person for me. There is no wrong place at the wrong time. God is always working for his glory and the good of his people. I, and you, can rest assured that God has the big picture and he will take care of his children. The Bible states that if we, as sinful people, can care and love for our children, then how much more will God do so for us. We must rest in these promises. It will give us hope for the future and strength to get through the difficult times. May each one of you reading this feel God's presence in your life today.
Love,
Jenn