When writing, I find it sometimes is better not to start with a title or even a strong idea for a topic. Sometimes you really don’t know exactly what is banging around inside your own head until you sit down and just let the words flow.
Being a reader I would imagine that this is making you nervous. You are thinking, “if even the author doesn’t know exactly where this is going, do I really want to hang around for the ride?” And honestly, that’s a valid question. I would answer it like this: if you regularly read this site and trust the content that is presented on a normal basis to be factual, inspiring and (hopefully) interesting then I hope you will trust me enough to see this piece through. If you’re new here or just don’t care for what I normally post then I would encourage you to look elsewhere. Life is too short to spend it doing things that don’t inspire you, help you grow or enrich you in some way.
With that out of the way, I can now hopefully express to you what is on my heart. And that expression would have to start with my own gratefulness. If there has been a central theme to my Christian walk this past year it would have to be God showing me just how blessed I am through His redeeming power. No matter how badly I mess up or how inadequate I feel at times, God’s redeeming power is greater. His grace is greater than all my sin; always has been and always will be. This is a great comfort to me every single day.
Learning to trust Him and His unseen hand is sometimes hard for me, but God is patient and kind. Through circumstances, the teaching of other mature believers and the ministering of the Holy Spirit, I am discovering what a joy it is to be able to put all of my trust in the Lord. My nature is to fret and to over analyze everything and then try to control and plan for all possible outcomes. Not only is this exhausting, there is absolutely no peace of mind when trying to live this way. This is not God’s will for my life and it is not God’s will for your life either. He wants you and I to learn to trust Him absolutely and without reservation.
There is a process and an order to growing in the faith, just as there is a process and an order to all of God’s creation. God is a God of order; chaos is not in His nature or part of His plan. Just as a seed is planted in fertile soil and then through water and sunlight grows little by little in to a mighty tree, so must our faith grow. Being the impatient man that I am, I want quick results and dramatic displays of maturity. Wouldn’t it be better if this whole life of faith and journey towards Godliness could be accelerated somewhat?
All I can say to that is our sanctification and our holiness is a God-designed process and must not be rushed through. God’s Word tells us that we grow from “faith to faith” (Romans 1:17) and that we should count our trials as joy because they are producing Godliness in us (James 1:2-4). On hard days verses like those help to remind me that God is still working on growing my faith. My part is to simply trust and obey.
I tell you this because I know that life is hard. At times, joy and laughter can be in very short supply and if you are like me, the weight of your responsibilities can seem overwhelming. But God is greater. When I choose to focus on Him and make Him my priority He takes all of my burdens and cares and replaces them with peace and joy. He wants to do the same for you, right now, today. Commit to learning to trust Him with your whole heart and hold nothing back. Let Him begin the work of faith in you and be patient as He grows you into the man or woman that you were always intended to be.