Faith Words: He Loves Me!
Last Sunday, Tod taught us from the book of Job. The lessons from Job are hard to understand in light of our perception that when we're living in God's favor, nothing bad will happen to us. What makes that hard is that reality has proven to us that quite often bad things do happen to God's people.
Faith (a beautiful gift from a loving God) whispers words of hope to us, assuring us that in the good times and, yes, even in the bad times, God is with us, faithfully loving us, and that ultimately, we'll be all right as long as we remain faithful to Him. We just need to hold on to our faith in Him and let Him work His will in our lives.
Ok. How do we get our hearts and our feet to agree with what we know in our minds? Or sometimes what we don't know but believe in - cling to - anyway? How can we walk such a difficult road? I don't have a simple answer to these questions. What I have is a simple faith - a faith that God is Who He says He is and that is enough. I don't have to understand everything or make sense of the senseless pain and suffering I see around me or experience myself. I trust that God loves me and that He is able to deal with it all appropriately and in His perfect timing.
Does that mean I don't cry or question God? No, sometimes I do. Just as the earth groans under the burden our sin has placed on creation, I cry out in pain, too. But what gets me through is I believe my God will (and does) reach out to me in love to comfort me and reassure me that He's got it all covered. I just need to trust Him, have faith in Him, rest in His loving arms till I grow strong enough again to stand and walk on in faith.
Clinging to God's love and mercy,
Patrice
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
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.
Faith (a beautiful gift from a loving God) whispers words of hope to us, assuring us that in the good times and, yes, even in the bad times, God is with us, faithfully loving us, and that ultimately, we'll be all right as long as we remain faithful to Him. We just need to hold on to our faith in Him and let Him work His will in our lives.
Ok. How do we get our hearts and our feet to agree with what we know in our minds? Or sometimes what we don't know but believe in - cling to - anyway? How can we walk such a difficult road? I don't have a simple answer to these questions. What I have is a simple faith - a faith that God is Who He says He is and that is enough. I don't have to understand everything or make sense of the senseless pain and suffering I see around me or experience myself. I trust that God loves me and that He is able to deal with it all appropriately and in His perfect timing.
Does that mean I don't cry or question God? No, sometimes I do. Just as the earth groans under the burden our sin has placed on creation, I cry out in pain, too. But what gets me through is I believe my God will (and does) reach out to me in love to comfort me and reassure me that He's got it all covered. I just need to trust Him, have faith in Him, rest in His loving arms till I grow strong enough again to stand and walk on in faith.
Clinging to God's love and mercy,
Patrice
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
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.
Comments
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. do not offer the parts of you body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.