Trust God Before The Miracle

“That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-17‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I must confess that deep down I have a fear mentality. I have to strongly fight against fearing that I will have to face something I can’t handle. I learned this lesson well during a time when life was so dark. My younger son lived with deep depression for a period of time. I did not see that his future had any hope. For almost 6 years, there was always a new development that I couldn’t handle. Even though that was almost 15 years ago, I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is right around the corner and I will not be able to cope with it.

The enemy would have loved to have taken me down back then, cripple me for life. But instead, out of God’s wonderful grace and faithfulness, he had other plans for me. I take no credit whatsoever. However, I remember pulling up to work everyday telling myself “these troubles are helping me gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than my troubles.” I would tell God everyday that I knew that one day I would be with him and these troubles would be over.

I learned that if I was going to survive, I had to pray with faith and not fear. My favorite verse became,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I realized that if my prayers were driven by fear and not faith, he could NOT reward me. I had to believe in his promises and not pray doubt-driven prayers.

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Also, I had to pray differently about things that I could not figure out the solution to.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

If I fixed my eyes on temporary and not eternal, that meant that I had to come up with solution all by myself. Stop and think for a moment. Are you driven by the fact that it is up to you to fix your problem? Be honest. I have not encountered many people who think eternally and pray with faith not doubt, but I want to be a part of that group.

I want that to be my goal in life...to pray with such confidence that God actually can do the impossible. If I believe that this verse is true, why do I worry about mounting finances of this surgery and the unexpected broken heater?

“I already own all the animals in the forest. I own all the animals on a thousand hills.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭50:10‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Why am I worrying about if and when my arm will heal? Am I holding my arm the right way? When should I return to work? I keep thinking that it’s my decision and not the surgeon’s.🙂

“He forgives all our sins and HEALS all our sicknesses.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:3‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Why do I worry about the future and the faceless enemies of the unknowns of finishing the school year?

“My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭31:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Instead, I choose to believe that I can trust my future without fear and worry because,

“But as the Scriptures say, “No one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I can remember thinking back in college that I would trust God BEFORE I saw how the situation would work out. Whenever I did that, God would reward my waiting with more than my heart could have imagined. I guess God has not gotten one bit weaker just because my faith is weaker today. He is the same, always faithful and always a rewarder.

Please God Through Faith and Not Fear

“Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This is one of the most powerful verses that can change your thinking about life. There have been periods of darkness in my life when fear and worry dominated my thoughts, especially about 3 AM. I know that the reason my thoughts were more troublesome at that time, Satan knows that I am halfway awake and this is a great time for him to lie to me.

Also, there are trigger points that can remind me of a bad time in the past. Satan will catch me off guard and lie to me and tell me that God is not powerful enough to help me. One of the most awesome things God has helped me to do is to pray about the eternal and not the temporary. Notice that I said, “God helped me to do this.” In my own strength, I cannot change.

“So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭ERV‬‬

If we think about only what we can see and understand and control, we think that we can handle life on our own. That’s where the fear comes in. We seem unable to solve all of our problems and all of our families’ problems. We spiral into depression and fear about the future.

Back to the original verse, “Without faith no one can please God.” When I realized the weight of this verse, I knew that I can never come close to pleasing God with fear. Only faith can please God! “Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.”

I try to grab my thanksgiving journal when the fears about the future pop in at 3:00 AM. He is deeply in love with each of us and wants to reward us. He wants to save us. The thanksgiving journal reminds me of all the times he has saved me.

“But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:13‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Get Moving!

10 When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming toward them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. 12 We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.”

13 But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. 14 You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you still crying to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving. 
Exodus 14:10-15

You got to love this story.  Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt in a miraculous display of strength. They were camping beside the Red Sea and low and behold they saw the Egyptian army following them. They froze in fear. Moses made a promise of astounding faith, "Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you." and then God said…

"Why are you still standing around?"  

"Get moving."

There are times when we should wait and there are times when we should be moving. This blog is not about the times when we should be waiting. This is about the times when we should be moving. 

I recently rode a zip line for the first time.  I was not afraid when I was stepping into the harness and putting on the protective helmet.  I did not mind climbing the stairway up to the top to be buckled in for the jump. . However, I knew that the jump off the platform was going to be the scary part. 

There are a lot of times when God asks me to step out in faith. If I look at the times when I obey, I observe one thing.  I am 100% successful if I step out immediately instead of having long, drawn out arguments in my mind deciding if I should obey. Sometimes I do argue with the Lord and end up being obedient…but it is less likely to occur than when I am instantly obedient. 

A couple of examples come to mind. I was driving to work one morning and saw an elderly woman struggling to keep her umbrella open in the pouring rain. I felt so strongly that God asked me to give her a ride. It went against all logic for me to obey because I was afraid of not knowing where to take her(I am terrible with directions) and I was worried I may not get to work on time. But I was instantly obedient. The experience is a wonderful memory of helping a woman who cleaned for Old Navy and desperately needed a ride to work. I was so thankful I did not miss that opportunity to serve an angel in disguise.

However, last week almost the same exact situation came up.  I had prayed that morning that God would provide me an opportunity to serve someone today. I was driving home and saw a very physically challenged man, struggling to cross the street in the pouring rain. I felt that same tug in my heart to stop and give him a ride to his destination. But instead of immediate obedience as before, I thought of all the reasons that I should not stop. Of course, I talked myself out of it.

Back to the zip line…I came to the top of the stairs and was tightly hooked in to the harness. The  young man explained that he would count to three and we would jump. If we did not jump with in 1 minute, then we would have to climb back down so others could have a turn. I knew that it was an act of faith. Would I trust the harnesses and the ropes to bring me to the ground a million(okay maybe a slight exaggeration)  feet below? I knew it would depend on if I acted instantly, without hesitation. On the count of three, I jumped!!! I would have missed the thrill of a zip line if I had stopped to examine all the ways that it was not a good idea. I hope the next time that God whispers a good idea in my ear, I move without hesitation.