Hope For Today "Trust"

God wants us to do well today and that’ll happen when we hold onto faith in His goodness and His love for us, not matter what’s gone on in our past. God is committed to our good and if we will come to Him, believe that he is there, and turn our will and our life over to His care, He will bring more good into our lives than we can possibly imagine today.  The big question is, will we have faith in God?

God takes us as we are.  Maybe it’s time we did the same with Him in return.

As we said last time, it’s normal to feel sad sometimes and fortunately for us, God is with us, noticing our sadness, and ready to help us find comfort and healing. The first thing we have to do, though, is often one of the most challenging.  We have to admit we are sad, instead of trying to cover it up, and we have to call out to Jesus for help. And then there are some practical things we can do that lift us up.

What do we know?  Who can we trust? In what way can we be assured that something is what is claimed and someone will do for us what they promise in the moment? These are significant questions and we hear stories that challenge us in the area of trust almost every day on the news.  I suppose that’s why I find the words from the Bible we will look at today comforting, particularly since there are many people through the centuries who have found them to be true.

Something fundamental happens to us when we invite Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and turn our will and our life over to the care of God.  Things that were dead in us come alive and we are able to desire new things, think new thoughts, understand life in a new way, and actually behave differently. 

We will face difficulties in this life, but the perspective of eternity with God in heaven, can help us get through tough times.

Life is journey and the path before us has many unexpected things, including obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. We do have difficult times, even times of weeping. God’s way is for us to be blessed no matter what we encounter. 

When Thomas was told that they had seen Jesus, he doubted that it was true. He was afraid to hope again.  Too many surprises.  Too much information.  Thomas just couldn’t deal with any more. Like Thomas, some of us have known the discouragement of hopes dashed and opportunities lost.  In our broken fearful lives, we doubt the presence of a loving caring God with us to help. 

God wants to lift us out of whatever sorrow and darkness has clouded our own souls with life’s challenges.  Our part is to realize that we are not seeing reality as clearly as we should.  God is with us, has been with us, providing us whatever we need for whatever we face. 

The resurrection of Jesus proves that the power of God’s love is stronger than all of evil so anything challenging that happens in our lives is something we can bring to God and expect His power to make changes in us – not just in our bodies but in our souls and spirits as well.

There is so little that we finite human beings know about what is going on in our world – both the world around us and the world of our soul.  Jesus knows so much more and is so ready and willing to help us navigate things in a way that will be helpful all around.

To grow and mature and do well in any area of life requires commitment. Maintaining our life with God also takes time and effort. The habits and disciplines we practice need to be consistently carried on if we are to grow and mature.