Hey, it’s been some time. I’ve missed the blog. I would ask how you’re doing but like me, I’m assuming that you are home, stuck waiting for this virus stuff to blow over. Speaking of such, NO, this is not a blog about the virus.
It’s all over the news, it’s all over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, it’s all anybody ever talks about but right now is going to be the exception, don’t worry.
I think the last blog was sometime in January or February….it’s been a while and I’ve wanted to write one but I wasn’t sure what to write about and I don’t want to waste both your time and mine as well.
I also want to invest time into these because I think they matter. If you’re new, I talk mostly about my faith and use this to encourage others and it’s not something I take lightly. Since the last blog, God’s been doing amazing things in my life.
One of the things I’ve learned despite the virus and even through that virus, that God is so good, and although I have a tendency to forget it when I look back I can’t help but stand in awe of God’s love and goodness to me.
Anyway, the last few months have been exciting, terrifying, and stressful yet wonderful, and amazing all at the same time. Full of new things, things you’d never think of doing…like going home halfway through March to finish online. Never would’ve imagined my semester like this.
In two weeks I’ll have finished my third year of college, that’s insane! I never thought I would graduate high school much less make it this far through college.
Honestly, as I mentioned earlier, God’s so good, but you have to take a step back and look for His fingerprints, and once you do they’ll be so evident you can’t deny His working in your life.
Although, I didn’t come to talk about myself. I was brainstorming and trying to figure out what God’s been teaching me the last several months since the last blog and what to write about. Of course, I didn’t want to write about the virus so I settled on this.
How often do we depend on ourselves? A lot. We depend on ourselves for our own strength and oftentimes much like the flawed human beings that we are…we fail. We don’t just fail once, or twice. We fail consistently. As Christians, the phrase “trust God” is pounded into our heads from the nursery as infants.
Trust God and everything will be perfect. Trust God and life will be amazing. I hate to break it to you but life is full of disappointments and simply trusting God isn’t going to change that. However, it makes the disappointments worth it.
You may be asking: How!? How can disappointments be worth it? Hear me out. When we do things our own way, sometimes we succeed but often we fail. Failure isn’t pleasant or enjoyable. However, in 1 Samuel, after Israel’s begging and pleading God gave them an earthy king named Saul.
Saul was brutal, harsh, worldly, and sinful just like every other human being. After realizing their mistake the people asked God to spare them from Saul’s cruel ruling over them.
God, knew that Saul would bring the Israelites pain and He knew that they would come running back to Him but God chose to give in to Israel’s wishes because he knew they would be better for it.
I’m not saying that God can only use tough situations to grow us but He often allows us to grow through them to draw us closer to Himself.
Now granted, God doesn’t always want us to grow through the mistakes we make.
God would love nothing more for our love for Him to be pure, irrevocable, unwavering and intimate but God understands our fallen sinful human nature, that’s why God sent Christ to die because He knew that we would run from Him, try to do our own thing only to come running back to Him later.
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 9:10 – “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
God KNOWS you and me. Yet, I’ll be the first to admit that I live my life sometimes as if it didn’t know or believe it. Yet, God is so good than when we do eventually realize how foolish we are to run from Him that he accepts us back into His arms as if we never left. Truthfully, God never lets go of us.
” As Christians, we are in God’s hand and as much as we may kick and scream our way into sin running from God, He’s still right there.
Exodus 34:14: “for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
God, among so many other attributes, is a jealous God. Now, that may sound like God covets, or isn’t perfectly content. However, that’s not at all what it means. God is jealous for US, His creation, His children.
When we go running to sin for satisfaction or pleasure it disappoints God, it breaks His heart when we don’t find our complete satisfaction in Him. ” “Lord your God” is a command of worship. God wants us, desires for us to worship Him.
Our worship of God brings Him glory yet while we choose so many other things over God it not only breaks the first commandment “Have no other gods before me” but it also disappoints God.
Think about it this way, it’s a lot like cheating in a marriage. In fact, several times throughout scripture Christ compares Himself to the groom with us as the bride. In marriage the husband and wife upon being wed, vow to remain faithful much like we do upon salvation.
Yet if a husband or wife cheats on his or her spouse the relationship is damaged. The analogy breaks down eventually. However, not only is the relationship damaged, the trust is broken. There is pain, shame, and anger among both parties. The pleasure once found in the sin now leads to pain for both entities.
Our relationship with God is broken when we “cheat’ with sin. Not only do we find temporary pleasure but shame ensues.
God never wants to see us in pain which is why he protects us, cares for us, and loves us. However, following God isn’t a golden road to heaven. Following God has its hardships. ” While the safest place for us as Christians is in the will of God, it doesn’t mean that God’s will for our lives is physically safe.
We will endure hardships of some kind but following God unashamedly and wholeheartedly is the most rewarding decision you’ll ever make.
Proverbs 18:10 – “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
In conclusion, failure isn’t optional, it’s guaranteed. Unfortunately, it’s in our sinful DNA to run toward sin for pleasure over Christ, so naturally, anything else is difficult. Loving, following, pursuing, and serving Christ isn’t easy and God never said it would be, but He promised that heaven would be worth it. ”
I heard in a sermon once: God isn’t asking you to get to heaven on your own, God isn’t asking you to sanctify yourselves, God didn’t ask us to die on that cross. He sent Jesus to pay for our sins so that all we had to do is trust Him.
If at salvation we promised to love God wholeheartedly while finding our satisfaction in Him, why do we live life trying to find pleasure in everything except God?
Matthew 16:26 – “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Thanks for reading,