Today I welcome guest writer, Sarah Beals, from Joy-Filled Day as she shares her story of trusting God.
Ever find yourself worrying about the little things in life?
At a young age I trusted Christ for salvation, but throughout my 20’s, I struggled to trust Him completely everyday.
I doubt I would have ever verbalized this, but I didn’t like the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. It scared me.
Especially after I had children. I would lay awake at night straining to hear my newborn breathing because I was afraid of SIDS. I would startle awake with nightmares that our house was on fire and that I couldn’t get all the kids out. On and on this went.
It wasn’t until my niece, my youngest sister’s first child, died at three months old that I really started searching the scriptures for evidence of God’s total loving control in our lives.
Did God care about a 25″ long casket that contained my niece? Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
I studied the Bible and read:
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10
But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Ps. 115:3
All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18
The Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Ps. 103:19
One day it struck me: If I can’t trust God to rule this world, who can I trust?
Who, exactly DID I want ruling?
You see, I knew the basics about God, but I didn’t really know God’s character. I was thinking about Him in terms of human character instead of His absolute holy character.
God is not like us, but we think he is. We are so used to dealing with sinful people that we mistakenly expect Him to be like sinners.
People let us down, and we assume God will do the same.
Friends are unfaithful or unloving and we assume Christ is that same way.
Our minds think thoughts like “God is not good, ” “God is withholding things from me,” “God is trying to ruin my life.”
But that is not what we see in God’s word.
God never has a grumpy day that ends in yelling match or hurtful words.
God never exhibits sinful, irrational anger.
God is not like the mythological gods Zeus, Thor or Ra, who were feared because they supposedly punished people when they were angry. We don’t need to wonder if our car accident was punishment for bad behavior, or that kids sickness was payback for unfaithfulness.
God is never unjust, unkind or unloving. God is not just loving, God is love. We only know what love is because we know God.
God does not deal with us according to our iniquities. We tend to repay evil for evil, but God exudes grace. In fact, when we deserved punishment, God offered forgiveness.
And when we were dead in our sins, God loved us. He planned to rescue us from our own mess. He planned good for us when we hated him. He blesses us through Jesus Christ and when God looks at us, He sees his beloved Son.
God never turns his back on us or betrays us. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to him.
So now when I struggle with wanting to run my own life instead of relinquishing total control to Jesus Christ, I remind myself to go back to God’s word and remember who it is that I am handing the reins of my life over to.
Are you struggling today with fear? Can you hand over the reins to God? It is hard to trust someone you don’t really know, so make it a point today to get into your Bible and search to see what God is really like.
Sarah Beals has been married to her high school sweetheart for 21 years, and is the mother of five children, ages 9-19. She enjoys watercolor painting, antiquing, chats with friends over coffee, good books, watching BBC drama and writing at joyfilleddays.com.
Leave a Reply