• Faith,  Life

    True Life: I Hate The Unknown

    August 24, 2015

    It’s true. I hate the unknown more than anything. When I don’t know the details of things that are happening in my life I get anxious. I love to be prepared and when I’m prepared I think that I’m the one in control of what is happening in my life. Obviously this isn’t true in the slightest. God’s in control, no matter how much planning and preparing I do. He ultimately decides how things happen in my life.

    Planning and preparing aren’t bad things in themselves of course, I think God honors us when we are responsible and plan for things that are happening in our lives. But I believe it’s a sin when we plan and plan and plan so much that we think we are out planning God. I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this but sometimes I think I know better than God does. I know what I’ll enjoy and I want to enjoy it when I want it. I can be very impatient at times.

    The most frustrating part to me is that I KNOW Jesus’s ways are better than my own. I know that waiting on His timing will only bring me more joy, but sometimes I still feel that I know better or maybe it’s just that I can be selfish at times and I want what I want more than I want to wait for whatever Jesus has prepared for me.

    I’m having a hard time with this but I know that Jesus will carry me through. What do you guys do when you struggle with waiting on Jesus? I’d love to hear from you.

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  • Faith

    A Secret About Your Fears

    August 15, 2015

    I felt like God wanted me to write about this specific topic earlier today but I reasoned with myself and told myself that I didn’t really feel in the mood to write at the time so I decided not to write about it.

    What I wanted to write though was that God has really been trying to show me the secret of why I fear things is because I picture the fear without God being there. 

    God’s really been telling me over and over again lately that He is always with me. And that this is the most important thing that I can remember, especially in those times that I’m worrying about something in my future. If I think back to my past, about the hard things I’ve gone through (and there have been a lot if I’m honest), and I realized that He was always there through all that, and that He is still here for me now, then I need to start picturing Him in the future as well.

    I just read my devotional, Jesus Calling for the day and I want to share it with you:

    Sit quietly with me, letting all your fears and worries bubble up to the surface of your consciousness. There, in the light of My Presence, the bubbles pop and disappear. However, some fears surface over and over again, especially fear of the future. You tend to project yourself mentally into the next day, week, month, year, decade; and you visualize yourself coping badly in those times. What you are seeing is a false image, because it doesn’t include Me. Those gloomy times that you imagine will not come to pass, since My Presence will be with you at all times. When a future-oriented worry assails you, capture it and disarm it by suffusing the Light of My Presence into that mental image. Say to yourself, “Jesus will be with me then and there. With His help, I can cope!” Then, come to the present moment, where you can enjoy Peace in my Presence”

    Once I read this I knew I had to write about it. This is the secret to conquering our fears. There’s no reason to worry about the future because He will be with us and He will give us the strength to get through whatever may cross our paths. What an awesome God we have.

    “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Deuteronomy 31:6

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  • Faith

    For Those Of You Who Have Anxious Hearts Like I Do….

    July 14, 2015

    This post is for those of you who know how it feels to be anxious. Anxious about life. Anxious for no reason at all sometimes. This post is for those of you who want so badly to trust in God’s good promises for you, who want to experience the peace that Jesus offers – but just can’t seem to grab a hold of this peace and keep it in your hearts.

    Instead you know how it feels to keep repeating the same anxious thoughts over and over again not sure how to make them stop.

    “If only…”

    “What if…”

    Now I want to let you know I am no expert on this. I too struggle with grabbing a hold of the the peace that Jesus offers. I’m on the same journey as you but I want to share with you what God is teaching me along the way.

    I don’t know about you guys but sometimes when I’m feeling anxious I think that I can figure out God’s plan if I think hard enough about my life. Now I realize how ridiculous this sounds admitting it but I’ve realized that that’s exactly what I am trying to do when I can’t stop my anxious heart from worrying.

    Sometimes I even examine other people’s lives and think that I can figure out how God works.

    So she grew up in a Christian home and has had a good life so far so ultimately something bad has to happen to her eventually, right?

    Or, I’ve had a really good year.. that must mean that something bad is lurking around the corner…

    Or, I better not enjoy this too much because then it might get taken away from me…

    Just admitting those thoughts out loud and bringing them into the light makes me realize how ridiculously wrong they really are.

    ” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

    – Acts 1:7

    This verse hit me hard when I read it today. No matter how hard I try to figure out what is going to happen, I simply cannot. It is not in my ability to do so. That again is reserved for God alone. Just like I mentioned in my post “If God’s Ways Are Higher Than Ours Why Does He Allow Bad Things To Happen To Us?”.

    God must really be trying to tell me something huh? Our jobs aren’t to figure out our future, what might or might not happen. Our jobs aren’t to go over every bad thing that can happen to try to figure out how we are going to deal with them if they do.

    Our jobs are to rest in His great love and provision for us. God is faithful guys. He promises to always meet our needs. That’s His job, not ours.

    But more than that, let’s remember how good our God really is. What I’m learning is that this is at the root of our anxieties and worries – we do not ultimately believe that God is good…

    And how wrong we are. God is really transforming my mind about who He is and the main thing that He’s showing me is that He is good! So good we can’t even fathom. If something bad is to happen to us, He’ll be there – every step of the way.

    Holding us, loving us, and growing us.

    We’re never alone, and never without what we need.

    “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

    Pray that God will open your eyes to just how good He really is – it will rock your world.

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