I Can Trust Him

Do you ever get totally blindsided by a circumstance you didn’t see coming? Well, today we received some unwelcome news in regards to our business that we weren’t expecting, and we really didn’t want.

In my last post, I wrote about how we can face our future with joy. I encouraged my readers that they could face their future with joy because of God’s goodness to us in the past. He has a perfect track record. He has come through time and time again.

Well, as so often happens after I write something that speaks to my heart and I feel is worth sharing, God decided to put it to the test. He wanted to see if I could practice what I preach and see where my joy level was at.

(Be careful what you preach, because God will test you. He will put you through the fire to see what you’re made of)

After the news, I filled in a couple of hours with errands and jobs around the house, trying not to dwell on the what ifs. But God is so good, and he knows just how to reach down and touch you with his love and fill your heart with wonder. He knew that I needed a token for good.

Psalm 86:17  Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

I don’t really understand this verse as well as I should, but I do know that from my limited understanding, God gave me a token for good. He gave me a little glimmer of hope and light.

I find it so beautiful when God gives you a sign. A token for good. Something to remind you of his presence, his love and mercy.

As I sat down to eat some lunch, my thoughts were troubled. I felt anxious and fearful of the future. I didn’t know how God was going to work this present problem out. It looks hopeless and there is no easy solution in sight, but as I sat there, I looked over to the calendar hanging on the wall. I had made the calendar with some of my favourite photos and quotes, so I could be reminded and encouraged by them each month.

Well, as June was coming to a close, I thought I would turn over to the next month. And here is the quote I read.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God”

This is a quote spoken by Corrie Ten Boom, many years ago. If you know her story, you’ll know that she had a very unknown future. She lived in very uncertain times, and yet she trusted God. And God came through mightily.

As the page of the calendar flipped over and I read the words, my heart leapt inside of me. I let out a silent hallelujah and sent a prayer of praise up to God. I also showed it to my daughter and sent a photo of it to my husband.

How wonderful is it that we can trust our future to God? How beautiful is it to know that God, our creator, sustainer, provider and redeemer can be trusted with every circumstance that comes into our lives? He is never taken by surprise. He is never caught napping. He knows the past and the future and his plans for us are good.

We don’t have to be afraid of the storm. The waves don’t have to overwhelm us. The tempests may blow, and our frail vessel may be at breaking point, but with God in the boat with us, we need not fear. It’s not about the fierceness of the storm, it’s all about who is in the boat with you.

I know my God. I know his character. He is known to me, and I am known to him. I’ve seen him work. I’ve benefited from his victories in the past and I know he’ll come through again and again and again.

My future may be unknown. It may be uncertain. It may be troublesome and there may seem to be no way out, but my God is known! He is bigger than my storm. I can trust him!

I have no idea how God is going to work this present dilemma out, but I have full assurance that he will. It may not be how I expect, it may not even be how I want, but I know that he will do it and it will be just what is needed and not a moment too soon, or too late.

He has never failed me before, and he’s not about to start now. He will always be there. He will never leave me or forsake me. He will always supply my need. He will always be my provider. His will is perfect. His ways are right.

I may not understand the way he works, but I can have faith in knowing that he will work things for my good, whatever that good may be.

I can trust my unknown future to him because I know him. Seek to know God intimately and it will bring you comfort in your time of need. The more you know him, the less you will fear.

 

I can trust Jesus
I can trust Jesus
He never once has failed
To meet my needs
He is my strong tow'r
The strength in my weakest hour
I can trust Jesus
He takes care of me

 

 

 

 

 

Are you facing the future with JOY?

 

As I look around at the faces of the people I come in contact with on a daily basis, I see worry, I see fear, I see anger, I see feigned happiness, but I rarely see joy. True joy. God given, deep, abiding joy.

Our world and sadly, often our churches, are full of despair. They are full of fear. There is not a lot of joy out there. The sad and sorry state that we find our world in, does not inspire joy and hope and love and peace. I want to tell you that you can face your future with joy. You can face your future free from fear.

But how? I was reminded of some ways we can do this while listening to a podcast recently by a well-known author who I am often challenged by.

She pointed out that in order to face our future with joy, we need firstly, to look back.

We have to go back into our past (not to dig up past hurts or find someone to blame our present troubles on) but in order to look back and remember what God has done for us in days gone by.

If we’re going to be able to look ahead with joy in our hearts, then we need to dig into the recesses of our memory and find those times where we saw the hand of the Lord work mightily. We need to remind ourselves of the times where we found ourselves in a desperate situation and God helped us through. We need to remember his faithfulness and goodness to us.  

There are so many times in my life where I knew that it could only have been God who did the work. It was all of him and none of me. In my own strength, I never would have made it through.

We need to look back and remind ourselves that God was faithful then, and he’ll be faithful now. He hasn’t let me down in the past, and he won’t let me down in the present or in the future.

We can face the future with joy, knowing that he has come through in the past and he will come through again.

After we’ve looked back, we need to look to the present. We can’t avoid looking at our current season of life. It’s staring us right in the face.

We need to look at where we are at this present time, look at the circumstances we find ourselves in and then remind ourselves, that no matter what they are, no matter how hard they are, they haven’t caught God off guard. He knows all about them and he knew all about them before we were ever born. He knows everything that is going on in our world and he knows what lies ahead. We will never ever catch God by surprise.

So, if God knows all about it, then don’t you think he can deal with it? Don’t you think that he is big enough to handle your problems?

We can face the future with joy simply because God already knows all about it and he is ready for it.

And finally, we need to look ahead. We can rejoice that the final chapter of our story has already been written. God has already told us our outcome. We know who wins, and it’s not the Devil. No matter how many schemes he has and how many traps he lays before us, he loses! He is defeated!

Sometimes we forget that in the race we run here on this earth, there is a finish line. We forget that although the days are hard and we often get weary, God is waiting there at the finish line to welcome us with open arms, saying, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant”.

We have a home in heaven with him forever. There will be no more tears, no crying, no pain, no sadness, no more fighting and striving, no pain and struggle, only peace. A home in heaven with our blessed Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God!

We can face the future with joy because God has written the final chapter and the hero wins! God, our champion, is victorious!

What this world needs are to see Christians that are joyful. They need to see it in the lives and on the faces of the believer. They need to see true joy. Joy that springs up from a deep well of gratitude to God because of his faithfulness.

They need to see that when things fall apart, we don’t! They need to see that we seek after God. They need to see that we call out to God when times are tough, and we praise him when times are good, bad or ugly.

They need to see that we have a hope. We have peace.

How can we reach the lost world if we walk around with no joy in our hearts? Why would they want what we have if it looks just the same as what they have?

Joy in the Christian walk is not an optional extra. It is a command. We are told to be joyful, over and over again.

Philippians 4:4 KJV - Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 KJV - Rejoice evermore.

Psalm 5:11 KJV - But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

Psalm 100:2 KJV - Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Let’s become men and women whose hearts seek after God, who have a desire for his Word and have a boldness that doesn’t shrink back in timidity at the circumstances, but bravely steps out as fearless warriors, with God by our side, trusting in him and facing our future with joy in our hearts and a radiance on our face that only God can give!

 

You have hope! 

Face your future with joy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait at the wharf

“Many a ship passes in the night,

touching at our wharf with the precious freight

which we have been praying for,

but we are not there to receive it.

Many a dove comes to our window from the

weltering waste of waters;

but we are too immersed in other things to notice its light tap.

We pray, but we do not wait;

we ask, but we do not expect to receive;

we knock, but we are gone before the door is opened.”

F.B.Meyer

James 1:6-7 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

How many times are we guilty of praying a specific prayer, then walking away and forgetting all about it? We don't stay at the foot of the cross, holding out our hands expectantly, waiting for God to grant the request with his abundance. Instead, we get discouraged, we doubt God's goodness, his provision, his protection. We go our way and while we're gone, the answer comes, but as the poem says, “we are not there to receive it.”

 Often, we pray, but don't wait. We ask, but don't expect anything to come of it. We knock, then turn away, not expecting an answer. We have little faith.

 Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 The passage in James tells us what we are likened to when we waver in our faith. When we doubt God's ability, we're like a wave of the sea. Now, waves of the sea are beautiful, don’t get me wrong, I love to stand in the shallows, feeling the wet sand between my toes as the water laps at my feet. In, out. In, out. In, out.

But when we pray without faith, we're likened to a wave. The wind drives it. It ebbs and flows. What is the wind in your life that drives you? Is it a wind of doubt? Is it a wind of fear? Is it a wind of anxiety? Is it a wind of peer pressure? What is the wind that drives your prayers and causes your faith to waver?

God says, “let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord”. If we're wavering in our faith and our prayers are half-hearted, and we pray without really expecting anything, God tells us plainly that we won't receive anything.

 Hudson Taylor once said,

 “Ask great things of God

Attempt great things for God

Expect great things from God”

 We don’t have to be afraid to ask big things of God and expect answers to those big things.

 God is waiting and longing to give us the desires of our hearts. He is able to go above and beyond our tiny requests and overflow our lives with blessings.

 Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us

 Then, why is it that we are not waiting at the wharf, at the window, at the door?

 Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

 So where does 'leaving it at the foot of the cross' come in? Some say we should pray for the thing once, leave it at the foot of the cross, and then have faith that God will answer. They tell us that we don’t need to keep praying repeatedly about it.

Well, I don’t pretend to have all the answers and I'm still on a steep learning curve when it comes to praying effectively, but I do know that God wants us to bring our problems to Him and not fret or worry over the outcome, and He also expects us to pray with a heart of faith, expectantly, hopefully and without doubt. He tells us in scripture to pray without ceasing. He wants us to bring our requests to Him continually and pray for the same thing over and over.

 I personally feel that you should keep bringing your request to God until he gives you the peace that it is answered or will be answered or that you are praying amiss and need to change your prayer.

 It is not wrong to pray for something consistently until God opens the floodgates of Heaven and grants our desires and we see the mighty hand of God work and we give Him all the glory.

 How many souls have been saved because a faithful Christian wouldn't give up on praying for that loved one to come to Christ? They weren't content to pray once, and walk away, not waiting for the answer. No, they were ready and waiting at the wharf, continually begging God and interceding on someone else's behalf until God answered.

 I don't want to be so busy in life, that I miss those little answers to prayer. We often ask a small request of God, then don't even see the answer arrive because we're so busy doing other things. We’re not waiting at the wharf. The blessing comes and goes by unnoticed. And because it is unnoticed, it is also not given thanks for.

 I want to be at the door waiting. I don’t want to miss a single answer! And I don’t want to miss an opportunity to give God praise for his exceeding abundant blessings, mercy and love!

 

 

 

 

 

Why Jesus is the best friend you can have

I wrote recently on the subject of letting God meet your emotional needs and how we need to run to him when we feel alone. I want to share some thoughts and verses with you today to remind you that Jesus is the best friend you can ever have.

When we say that Jesus is our friend, are we being irreverent? No. It is true that God is our King, and he will always be our King. But he is also our friend and the Bible backs this up.

John 15:15 KJV - Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

The Lord Jesus is our King and our God, but he invites us to be his friend also. He calls us friends.

We didn’t start out as friends of God. The Bible tells us that we were once enemies of God and that we had to be reconciled to him through faith and repentance. We had to make a choice to become a friend of God and we have to make the choice, daily, to grow our friendship.

Friendship thrives on communication and conversation. We read the Bible and God speaks to us and we respond to him through prayer and worship.

Because of who God is, and what we know of his character, we can take comfort and rejoice in the truth that he will be the best friend we can have.

Our relationships on earth and the disappointment we often face when friends let us down can be discouraging at times, but Jesus longs to be your friend and there are many solid facts found in scripture to prove why he is the best friend anyone could ever have.

Here are just a few verses that encourage my heart on this topic.

Jesus is the best friend you can ever have because:

He gave his life for you-

John 15:13 KJV - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

He accepts you as you are, regardless of your past –

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

He will never bring up your past mistakes -

Isaiah 43:25 KJV - I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

He is a faithful friend that will never leave you –

Hebrews 13:5 KJV - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

He always listens –

Psalm 5:3 KJV - My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

He is easy to approach –

Hebrews 4:16 KJV - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He is easy to read, and you can know exactly how to please him –

Ephesians 2:10 KJV - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

He is honest and never lies –

Titus 1:2 KJV - In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

He loves you unconditionally –

1 John 4:9 KJV - In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

He always wants what is best for you –

Jeremiah 29:11 KJV - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

He knows what you are thinking –

Psalm 139:2, 23 KJV - Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. ... Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

He will never lead you astray –

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

As you read over these verses, can you see where human friendships often fail but God never does?

Often when friends find out about your past failures, they leave. Or maybe they’re just not honest with you. Maybe they’re difficult to approach or selfish and not looking out for you, caring only about their own interests and their future. Maybe you just don’t know how to read them and can’t figure out how to please them and be a good friend. Maybe they don’t listen to your heart when you share your passions or deepest longings. Maybe they continually bring up your past mistakes. Or maybe they’re a bad influence and don’t encourage you in your walk with God.

The Lord Jesus never fails us in any area and truly is the best friend we can ever have.

I just love that God knows us inside and out and yet he stills showers his unconditional love upon us, blessing us daily and encouraging us to walk with him, despite our past failings or faults.

He longs to have a deep and intimate relationship with you. He desires your friendship. He wants you to run to him. He waits with open arms. He is always enough.

Now, I am not disregarding human friendships, because they are important, and I believe wholeheartedly that we should make friends and strive to work on and grow our earthly friendships. We need support groups of friends around us, and we need to encourage one another in the faith, leaning on each other and lifting each other up when we fall.

Proverbs 18:24 KJV - A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

But we must always keep in mind, that friends will fail us, and we don’t have to live our lives continually misunderstood, alone or unknown, because we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We have a friend that knows us fully yet loves us fully.

He will never leave us. He will never lie to us. He will never misunderstand us. He will always be approachable. He will always listen to us. He will always and I mean always, with not even a hint of fakery, want what is best for you. He always has your best interests at heart. He gave his life for you and there is no greater love than that.

John 15:13 KJV - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 3:16 KJV - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If you’re struggling today in your friendships, don’t give up on them altogether, remember that they take hard work and a lot of communication, love and forgiveness, but remember you have a friend in Jesus. He is the best friend you can ever have. You can bring anything and everything to him. If you lose all your friends here on earth, you still have him by your side.

He won’t be frightened off by your moodiness, your attitude, your lack of communication. He loves you unconditionally. He will continue to love you even when you are unlovable and disobedient to him. He will never cast you aside. He will never overlook you. You will always be welcome, and he will always be there with open arms.

There may be times where you need to repent of the sin in your life and restore the fellowship to where it once was, but once you become a friend of God, you will always be a friend of God.

John 6:37 KJV - All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Take comfort in knowing that the friendship we have with God is unparalleled, unmatched, unsurpassed, unrivalled, unequalled and incomparable!

 

 

 

Walk Run Fly

Are you going through a weary season right now? Do you know what I mean by that? A season where there is so much to do, so many additions to your to-do lists that you can’t cross one thing off without adding 3 more, so much work and so little sleep, you go to bed so late and wake up so early that you actually pass yourself in the hallway!

Maybe you have little ones, a newborn, toddlers, and lack of sleep and endless mental strain at the demands of child training is wearing you down, or maybe it’s teenagers, or maybe, it’s just plain hard physical labour day after day that never seems to end, but you can’t stop as you need to keep going just to pay the bills and stay on top so that you can pay the tax man once again.

When you fall into bed at night, you’re exhausted, physically, emotionally and mentally. You enjoy your much needed rest, only to get up and do it all again the next day.

Maybe you’ve had days like this, or months or even years. Being caught up in a weary season right now, I began to think about Isaiah 40. I love the comfort that the Word of God brings to a weary soul.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

What I love about this passage, is that although we grow weary and we find ourselves fainting, God never tires. He never faints. He is never weary. The great thing about this is that God is always awake, alert, strong and ready to lift us up.

There is a lot going on in Isaiah chapter 40, we have the gospel, the coming of Christ, the comfort he brings and his sovereignty, but the main theme, as I see it, is God’s greatness and his goodness to his people.

Verse 31 speaks of God’s inexhaustible strength and power. We have to remember who it is that gives us the ability to soldier on, through the weary and long days. It is only through God’s power that we are victorious. We are not able to make it through the weary seasons in our lives without the Lord’s help.

We are told that if we wait on the Lord, if we eagerly and patiently wait and trust and hope, God will renew our strength. He will recharge us and replenish and restore us once again. But we have to wait on him.

When we try and run ahead of God, we just exhaust ourselves and wear ourselves out. We set ourselves up for failure. We have to work on his time schedule, and we have to trust in him, faithfully and patiently waiting on him to give us the power to run and not grow weary and walk and not faint.

Tiredness is a part of life, and although the Bible tells us that God never tires, we read that the Lord Jesus in his human form became weary and had to stop and rest and refresh himself with food and water.

John 4:6 - Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

Being weary is a physical sign that we are in need of refreshment, whether physically, mentally or spiritually.

We can’t always control the busy seasons in our lives, as things have to be done and time marches on swiftly, but what we can control is the choice to wait on the Lord and lean on him, seeking refreshment from him.

It’s easy to get caught up in reaching for other things to comfort us when we are tired. Maybe it’s scrolling through social media as a distraction, or binge watching a television series, or maybe it’s comfort eating. There are many things out there that promise satisfaction, only to leave us feeling like we’ve been eating dry Weetbix and we’re left thirsty and parched.

The only one who can give us the power we need, is Christ. Yes, we need food and water, even the Lord Jesus at times was hungry, but we need what I like to call, soul food. We need the water of God’s Word pouring into our hearts and minds, soaking into the dry and parched places in our lives. We need his updrafts of air, lifting us up as eagles and causing us to rise to new heights that we never thought were possible to reach. The eagle doesn’t run from the storm, it uses the storm to lift itself higher. Think about that for a minute.

Although you may be tired and the days are long, take comfort in knowing, that even if the weary season goes on for a lot longer than you planned, God is there ready to give you strength.

Isaiah 40:29 - He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

I experienced this very powerfully in my own life just yesterday. It has been a very busy few weeks and I had thought that I was to have a day off of sorts, as I had finished delivering all the freight that had come in. I was working on my to-do list and mentally formulating my day’s plan, when before I even rose from my bed to start on my day off, 13 pallets of freight came in and my plans were suddenly thrown into chaos.

Now, I don’t tell you what happened to boast, because I want God to get all the glory for his empowering work.

As I realised I had to throw out all my plans and embrace God’s plans for the day, I thanked the Lord and praised him for choosing to order my day the way he saw fit, as I knew that he saw the bigger picture and would have a purpose in it all.

I jumped out of bed, after hastily reading my Bible, and began my day, worship music playing out of my little, somewhat tinny sounding Bluetooth speaker sitting on the dash. I raced around madly all day in my trusty ute, with the wind in my hair and the sweat on my face.

And as the day progressed and my mood stayed upbeat, I marvelled at how God could keep my strength going and my cup overflowing with joyfulness. It had to be him. It definitely wasn’t me. I couldn’t have made it through that day with a song on my heart and a spring in my step without his power enabling me. He gave me power to walk, run and fly. Literally, at times.

And once again, only today, my plans have been thrown out the window and so I sit here writing, as God has given me time and space to sit and study and learn from him.

What an amazing and awesome God!

When you find yourself in a weary season, don’t be continually reaching for those creature comforts, reach for God. Yes, go ahead and eat that chocolate and catch up on your social media feed and reconnect with friends, but don’t neglect the one that can feed your soul and refresh and replenish you.

Wait on him. Trust in him. Rest in him.

Remind yourself of who God is and what he is capable of.

With his strength and his power you can:

 

Walk.   Run.   Fly.