OST of us have faced disappointments, which have taught us that we can only depend on ourselves. But living the life God has called us to live means unlearning that lesson. God wants us to rest and trust in Him.
But sometimes trusting Him completely can be tough. Each day we must consciously lay aside our own plans and expectations and be able to surrender to His plans. Even when we don’t feel like we can trust in Him.
We should cry out to Him when we feel like we can’t trust in Him. Surrendering to God begins with our lips and our thoughts. Sometimes we are afraid to make a commitment to depend on Him, but crying out for His help is key.
When we pray, we admit that His ways are higher than ours. And we can show that by leaving our troubles and burdens in His hands. We need to hand Him the keys of our lives and know that He is able to lead us.
But to do that we need to run away from evil. There is so much in this world that can clutter up our relationship with God. In 1 John 2:16 , John calls them “desires of our flesh, lusts of the eyes, and pride.” In other words, our blessings can easily become our stumbling blocks when we think of them as what we deserve or what we need to be happy.
Life works better when we remember that the true source of our blessings comes from God. And we should focus on the things that please Him. Proverbs 3:7 says “Do not be wise in our own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”
Sometimes, the on,y way to live the life God wants us to live is by separating ourselves from the bed influences that keep dragging us down. That works best when we start pursuing something else in their place.
It’s not easy, fleeing from the evil desires that pull at us means spending a lot of time talking to God and leaning on Him. But God promises to honor our commitment to Him when we run away from evil. Proverbs 3:8 says, “This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
When we pursue God, we find abundant life. Running from evil and pursuing God doesn’t come naturally to most of us. It means we have to make some serious changes in our lives.
It’s easy to put ourselves first. When something good happens, we want to congratulate ourselves with a reward. When something bad happens, we want to console ourselves or find someone to blame. That’s what comes naturally to us. I call it “me-centric”.
And when it comes to money, the struggle is even harder. It’s hard to get the perspective that money does being to us but God -God created all things.
If we can trust God with the first of our wealth, we truly show how much we depend on Him. Handing over the first part of our money takes a huge amount of faith. But, when I do this God blesses me beyond measure.
If we are honest with ourselves we aren’t so good at evaluating ourselves. We go to great lengths to excuse our behavior, our actions, and our sins. We can pretty much find a reason for any bad thing we do.
If we are ever going to truly trust in God and flee from evil, we have to know where we stand. In Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah captures this very well. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
We have to find an objective measure that tells us the truth. And that truth comes from God and His Word. Sometimes it takes something bad happening or seeing ourselves in a bad light before we can admit that we need change. The more we are in the Bible, the more likely this will happen. When we have scripture planted firmly in our hearts, God will often use it to clean the garbage out of our lives.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to us, when we choose to follow Him. He told His disciples that this counselor would be their spiritual compass -our very own built in GPS.
In John 14:26 Jesus says, “But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
So as we go through our day, the Holy Spirit guides us too. That means we don’t have to do it alone or hope we’re getting it right. The Holy Spirit leads us in truth and protects us.
After all, the gift of the Holy Spirit to true believers reminds us that we can truly rest in God’s love.
When we face a difficult world each day, we can sometimes wonder if God even cares. Especially in today’s world, when we see bad things happening or wonder where He is. Bur God never leaves us to fend for ourselves.
Even in the nest of turmoil, God sticks with us and uses our challenges to shape us. When we understand that, our perspective changes completely. We will o longer see setbacks as failures, but as moments when God (our loving Father) is helping us to become stronger.
That’s why we can trust God with our hearts. He cares for each of us everyday. He gives us what we need to thrive. He pours blessings upon us.
Following God every day isn’t easy, but when we do we are never on our own.
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” – Matthew 28:20.
From Pity to Praise 