6.29.15 "Trusting God"

Please find a quiet place to clear your thoughts.  As we read these verses, ask for the Holy Spirit to rid your mind of busyness, doubt, fear, worry, etc…  Let God’s truth speak to your heart! Genesis 21:1-7 (The Message)

 

21 1-4 God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.

 

5-6 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

Sarah said,

God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!

 

She also said,

Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse a baby! Yet here I am! I’ve given the old man a son!

I can just feel the joy in Sarah’s voice when she declares “Yet here I am!  I’ve given the old man a son!”  I can’t imagine waiting THAT long to be able to have a child, at 90 years old.  It reminds me of the years Jim and I weren’t sure if we would be able to have children.  We married young, and waited awhile before we decided to try to have children.  It took four years and four surgeries (I had endometriosis) before we were delighted to find out that we were expecting.

I remember those four years, praying, hoping, going to specialists, and undergoing surgery.  It became a huge priority in our lives.  I remember crying when other friends my age became pregnant, and telling someone at work that I just wanted to know for certain whether it would be possible for me to EVER bear a child.  Was there something in our past that we were being punished for?  Didn’t God think we’d be good parents?  We had begun researching adoption when we found out that what I thought were flu symptoms was the blessing of our first child, Jarrod.  What joy!  As I look back now, in hindsight, God’s timeline was very different than our timeline.  That’s all.  If I had just turned my doubt, worry, and fear completely over to Jesus, would I have been so miserable and self-centered while we waited?  God promises over and over again in his Word (I like Psalm 103:6-18) that he has the very BEST plans for us.  I think I could have lived with a lot more peace during that time period, trusting in God.

So, do you think I learned my lesson?  No!  I still struggle with being self-centered, and placing other things/people ahead of my relationship with God.  I remember having a conversation with my Aunt Marilyn after God had blessed us with three boys.  I was whining about how rowdy they were, and how exhausted I was, and she smiled and looked at me and said, “Ahem, I remember a certain young lady that wanted children very badly…  Of course, it was something I needed to hear, and Aunt Marilyn was wise and loving enough to speak some truth to me!

Because of the sin in this world, I believe we will always struggle with trusting our God completely.  SO, we should begin each day being thankful for our blessings, and place our trust and faith in the God of the Universe, who loves us so much, and provides wisely and lovingly for us every day!

kristi

Psalm 103 (The Message)

103 1-2 O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing!

3-5 He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

6-18 God makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how he went about his work, opened up his plans to all Israel. God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, Making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said.

19-22 God has set his throne in heaven; he rules over us all. He’s the King! So bless God, you angels, ready and able to fly at his bidding, quick to hear and do what he says. Bless God, all you armies of angels, alert to respond to whatever he wills. Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are— everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!