Trusting God and Building Your Faith

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When life is good, trusting God is easy. When life is in turmoil, trusting in God is a battle of faith. I believe without a doubt that God wants to bless us and that the bad things that happen aren’t God’s desire for us at all. I also believe that God can deliver us from the trials that we endure, but sometimes during the difficult times we can learn something more valuable: Faith by Trusting in God. 

When you’re at the end of your rope, that’s when God can work miracles. Last year, I went through what I thought was the most difficult time of my life; my faith grew despite not receiving the miracle we prayed for. I didn’t give up on God, I didn’t blame God, and sometime after, I was able to see how God could still use that event for His good.

As Christians, we understand that life isn’t easy - we are constantly under attack by the enemy. So when my current trial came up on me, it was no suprise. The enemy knows when we’re weak and he knows exactly how to attack us. We have to remain strong, we can’t give him any slack, that means staying in God’s Word, Praying and Serving God. We know about the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and it’s importance, so if we want to defeat the devil, we have to stay vigilant and prepared. 

This time, I let my guard down, I let the enemy gain a foothold on me when I allowed my feelings of anxiety, fear and depression to take over instead of turning to God's Word. To quote C.S. Lewis, “Faith is the art of holding on to things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.” It’s so much harder to fight when the tide is already against you, don’t allow the enemy to gain any ground. We must recognize the attack and pick up our armor and continue to fight. Don’t give in, instead dive in - dive into the Word of God. 

The word of God, you see, is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 VOICE)

When the enemy whispers your worst fears, you have to be able to fight back with God’s promises for you. The Apostle Paul knew this all to well, that’s why he taught us that in the Armor of God, to pick up God’s Word - the sword of the Spirit, to fight against the enemy.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV)

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

My favorite passage to turn to lately has been Psalm 23, I can read it in any version and feel God’s peace and presence. When you feel overwhelmed or don’t think you can overcome your current situation pick up the sword of the Spirit and fight off the enemy, memorize a scripture that soothes your soul and pray for God’s peace, strength and comfort. I have to remind myself often of this verse and today I discovered this wonderful note in The Voice translation that I wanted to share:

You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit. 
*God’s gift of faith is like a flame, and when the embers of the fire have cooled you must fan them again and keep them ablaze. (2 Timothy 1:7 VOICE)

My Heart Aches

My heart feels so heavy right, I feel the pain and tears of so many ~ the Holy Spirit communicates with us all and I honestly believe right now I’m feeling the sensitivity of my Spirit to the hurt around me. I myself have been saddened by my own circumstances and have felt the tears flowing, which causes me to be reminded of our Heavenly Father’s heart and tears for His children.  As much as I can feel for my friends and family, God cares for us ALL so much more.

You keep track of all my sorrows.

    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

    You have recorded each one in your book.

(Psalm 56:8 NLT)

So don’t turn from the One who will always be there for you, no matter what you’re going through or have been through – He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut 31:6, Heb 13:5) so run to Him, run to His open arms and feel the everlasting peace that only Jesus can give. 

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] (John 16:33 AMP)

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Our Trust is in the Lord

I wait quietly before GOD, for my victory comes from HIM.

(Psalm 62:1 NLT)

Never has an election been more pivotal in our country, 

the balance between good and evil are in the balance:

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, 

between blessings and curses. 

Now I call on heaven and earth to witnessthe choice you make. 

Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" (Deut 30:19 NLT)

the veil has been removed from our eyes. 

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 

(2 Cor 3:16 NLT)

We will remain vigilant in our prayers 

for an awakening of our nation

 to the ONE TRUE GOD. 

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chron 7:14 NLT)

We will trust in HIM and we will be victorious 

because it is Christ who strengthens us

 and HE has already overcome this world!

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NLT)

Trials by Faith

1 Peter 1:7

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

It says in the Bible we will have trials, after all we are living in a world that doesn’t follow GOD. It doesn’t say that GOD gives us these trials, no these trials have either been brought on by our own foolish mistakes, other people, or the devil.  To believe that GOD gave us these trials, that’s a trick of the enemy, in the Amplified Bible in John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”  

Jesus told us we would have struggles and tribulations [Tribulations: thilipsis (Greek word used) means Pressure, oppression, stress, anguish, tribulation, adversity, affliction, crushing, squashing, squeezing, distress. My Bible refers to this word as spiritual bench-pressing and is also used in reference to crushing grapes or olives in a press]in this world, but HE also told us to “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) It doesn’t seem natural to be of good cheer while going through a storm does it? But when you have GOD with you, the storm doesn’t seem so big, you have his peace, comfort and strength, so you feel a lot more like David standing against Goliath with just a sling shot in your hand, completely confident that you can take down that giant (trial, storm, tribulation) !!

When you’re going through a trial you have a choice, you can stop right there and stay in it or you can give it to GOD. Giving it to GOD is when you use your faith, it’s much easier to sit in the midst of your storm and feel sorry for yourself, wonder why this is happening to you or even point fingers at others and say you don’t deserve it. But that whole time you’re not getting anywhere, it’s like spinning your wheels.

BUT if you stand up and say, “God, I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know you GOD, and you didn’t do this to me, so even though I’m scared and unsure, I’m going to put my trust in you GOD, take this faith of mine and strengthen it Lord so I can make it through this and bring you glory”. If you take that first step of faith, God will lead you out of the storm. I’m not saying the storms going to stop right then and there, no, I’m just saying HE will be with you and when HE’s with you, though the wind may blow and howl and the walls fall down around you, you can have a peace and a joy that this world can never give you. 

When you get to the other side of the storm, you will have increased your faith and strength in GOD. Write down that experience (or even better, share it with someone, be an encourager to someone else going through their storm), write down how you were scared at first, but when you asked for GOD to help you, HE was there (HE was there with you the whole time, before you even asked, HE was just waiting on you) and how you got to the other side. By writing it down, you have a way to look back and see that GOD got you through and how much stronger you are now!