Can God be Trusted?

Tanner and I went to Barnes and Noble Bookstore on one of our "Mommy Tanner days"  and I grabbed a book from the Christian section, as I usually do, and sat down in the little kiddy area so Tanner could play with the stuffed animals and look at books.  I picked up a book by Carol Ladd called Thrive don't Simply Survive.

As I was flipping through it, I came across the title, "Can God be Trusted?" I stopped to read and this is what she said, "Are we willing to trust God even though we don't understand his ways?"

I thought for a minute before reading on..."Huh, do I?"

Then I kept reading...She quoted Saint Bernard of Clairvauz, "If we begin to worship and come to God again and again by meditating, by reading, by prayer, and by obedience, little by little God becomes know to us through experience.  We enter into a sweet familiarity with God, and by tasting how sweet the Lord is we pass into...loving God, not for our own sake, but for Himself."

I think I stopped at this particular subject because it is right where I am at.  There are so many things that are out of my control right now and it is driving me crazy.  There are times that I think, "Seriously God, " as if He plays jokes on us.  And then there are times that I think, "God I know that you have this situation in the palm of Your hands.  I will walk with you wherever you lead." 

Encouragement came when I read Ladd's list of some reasons we have trials.

So...Why Trials?

1.  Trial offer us a chance to grow.
2.  Trials offer us an opportunity to empathize with and encourage others.
3.  Trials remind us of our need for God's care and help.
4.  Trials lead us back to our loving God.
5.  Sometimes trials are God's way of disciplining His children.
6.  Trials allow us, in a small way, to share in the suffering of Christ.

In all of this, I know that God is drawing me closer to Himself as long as I chose to follow Him through it. 

Can I trust Him? 

You bet!!

There is no one else I'd rather put my trust in than a loving Father who desires the best for me and will use every situation and circumstance to bring glory to Himself. 

John Calvin said it best, "Our inklings of the realities of God will be vague and smudged until we learn from Scripture to think correctly about the realities of which we are already aware."

Sometimes the trials are painful, but with every growing pain, I learn a different attribute of our precious Lord.  Every step brings clarity to His Word.  With every act of obedience bring blessings.  I am falling more and more in love with my Creator!

If you are going through a tough time I pray that God's Word would illumine the way. 

Trust Him! 

YES, He CAN be trusted!!

~Kerry