When The Way Seems Foggy...We Can Trust Him

Fighting for joy is a daily battle. (I realize I have been posting a lot about battles and fighting, but it’s so true and it’s what the Lord has been helping me see.) I know for myself, I am for the most part a pretty joyful person, but I still need to preach the “truth” of what my circumstances really are to myself everyday, so that when those difficult times come, I know where my help comes from and I will remember that my joy and comfort is not based in circumstances, but in the truth of God and the Gospel. I heard a quote by Martin Luther’s wife one time to the effect of she never would have understood certain scriptures, never would have appreciated certain difficulties or known the inner workings of the soul, never understood the Christian life and work if God had not brought difficult times or circumstances into her life. God is showing me more and more that I cannot base my trust in Him on how I feel or what I think is going right, but instead I need to base it on the truth of His word, knowing that He will never fail me. Even if all beneath me falls away I still know that He is God. And like the following quote says, even though visible signs that we can trust Him are good, we will appreciate it so much more after we have trusted Him without them.

God knows exactly when to withhold or to grant us any visible sign of encouragement. How wonderful it is when we will trust Him in either case! Yet it is better when all visible evidence that He is remembering us is withheld. He wants us to realize that His word – His promise of remembering us – is more real and dependable than any evidence our senses may reveal, it is good when He sends the visible evidence, but we appreciate it even more after we have trusted Him without it. – Charles Gallaudet Trumbull

One way that the Lord has graciously given me to preach His truth to myself is through music. I love to listen to songs that don’t encourage my struggles and weaknesses, but ones that challenge them. I am hoping to make it my practice to grow in honoring God by trusting Him not only when it’s easy to, but much more so when it’s not. His faithfulness will never fail and His mercies are new every morning. The pursuit of God and holiness is a long road, but one worth traveling...

Joy In My Morning

When darkness falls

Temptations call

And all around me seems undone

You hear my pleas

Supply my needs

And tell me of Your wondrous love

You are the joy in my morning

You’re my song of praise

Just like the new day dawning

Flooding my world with grace

Though trials come

And every one

Can take me further from Your truth

You calm my fears

Dry all my tears

And draw me closer, Lord, to You

In You there’s no shadow of turning

Constant in all Your ways

The Battle For Control

"Surrender is not the surrender of the external life, but of the will; when that is done, all is done." -Oswald Chambers

Surrender of my will to God seems like a continual battle for me. Since the day I was born it has been my constant companion. Almost every moment of everyday is a conscious and unconscious fight of my will in opposition to God. I know that a lot of people can hear the word "surrender and consider it to be a negative thing. They can think of it as something cowardly or demeaning, but where our will and God are concerned that is not the case. Nancy Leigh DeMoss highlights that fact in one of her books...

"This surrender did not strip the creation of dignity or freedom; to the contrary, surrender was and still is the source and means of true freedom and fullness...to surrender to the Creator's control is not onerous or burdensome; it is, in fact, the place of blessing, fullness and peace."

I have sometimes wondered why God doesn't just command me into submission or reject me altogether, but God has shown me time and time again His patient love and care. Like Psalm 103 says, God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve.

"From the very first skirmish, God set into motion a plan devised in eternity past, to restore man back to a place of surrender to His control. Possessing absolute power, He could have chosen to bludgeon His rebellious creatures into submission. However, because He desires a loving personal relationship with men and women, created in His likeness, he opted first to woo and win the hearts of His creatures. He wants their willing, volitional surrender."

I am learning that the very things I am unwilling to surrender to God, even good things, quickly become enemies in my relationship with the Lord. What is it that we are in battle for control over? Whatever the answer to that question is, there is a solution that God has called us to respond with. Surrender. I am most miserable when I am fighting for control and most joyful when I have submitted everything into the hands of my sovereign and trustworthy God. I' not sure why I would ever want to control things in my life knowing what I know, but it is a daily battle and I'm sure will be a lifelong one as well. Today I am praying that I will be able to fully surrender all to God. He has never failed me and I know He never will.

"But those who trust in Him will find ultimate, eternal joy in that glad-hearted surrender."