Trust Me!

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I just finished a study-plan called “When God does not make sense”.

The plan started with this statement:

“Life does not always go the way we expected. You pray with faith, but God does not do what you asked. You seek Him but do not feel His presence. You are going through pain, but your cries for relief seen to go unanswered.”

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 1 Peter 4: 12-13

At the end of the study, I was reminded of few truths:

The same Jesus who called Lazarus back from the grave is calling you to abundant life.

You may be lonely; He is with you always. Matthew 28:20
You may be anxious; He cares for you. Philippians 4:6-7
You may be tired; He is rest. Matthew 11:28-30 You may be lost; He is the way. John 14:6 
You may be angry; He is love. Psalm 145:8-9
You may be broken; He was wounded to heal you. Isaiah 53:5
You may be addicted; He is freedom. John 8:36
You may be in darkness; He is a great light. Isaiah 9:2
You may be dying; He is the resurrections and the life. John 11:25

When God seems inattentive, uncooperative, and late, these are the moments when we get to decide what we really believe about Him.

Even when we decide to believe in Him, we may still sometimes feel like God does not make sense. Yet, we can be sure the same Jesus still hears our cries, shares our pain, and saves our lives.

~ Jesus, thank you for calling me out of the "grave" of sin. I choose to Trust You to care deeply about what I am facing, and I want You to face it together with me. ~

~ Thank You for taking on my shortcomings and my pain when You experienced brutal death and separation from God on the cross. ~

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I have been listening for quite some time podcast from late author Elisabeth Elliot, to help me put into perspective things that had happened into my life.

While listening to: Suffering not for nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDxFPGHk9Vw&t=2597s

She said:

"God answer to my why? Was: Trust Me! – No explanation, just Trust Me.

If I had a faith which deep was determined, that God had to give me a particular kind of answer to my particular prayers that faith would have disintegrated.

Instead, my faith had to be founded on the character of God Himself, and of what looked like a contradiction in terms of - God loves me, God lets this awful thing happen to me".

"I had to leave in God’s hands and say":

"OK Lord, I do not understand it, I do not like it, but I only had two choices, He is either God or He is not, I am either held in the everlastings arms or I am at the mercy of chance.

I have to Trust Him or deny Him. Is there any middle ground, I do not think so".

Then she goes on, talking about the three young Jewish men Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), when they were thrown into the fiery furnace by king Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship his golden statute.

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But if He doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

But if He doesn’t ….

Eventually we all come to the painful experience of Why? And God says – Trust Me!

Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than He went through before;
And he that in God's kingdom comes
Must enter by this door. ~ Baxter

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Minutes after Joshua passing, God gave us the exact same words:

Trust Me! You have to Trust Me now!

Every time we think about that difficult day, we have to shake our heads, close our eyes and repeat these words: Trust Me, God you told us to Trust You. Joshua is not dead; he is just going ahead of us, and we will see him again pretty soon.

"Ye have lost a child: nay he is not lost to you who is found to Christ. He is not sent away, but only sent before, like unto a star, which going out of our sight doth not die and evanish, but shineth in another hemisphere. Ye see him not, het he doth shine in another country. 
If his glass was but a short hour, what he wanteth of time that he hath gotten of eternity; and ye have to rejoice that ye have now some plenishing up in heaven.” ~ Letters of Samuel Rutherford

Maranatha! – Yes, Lord Jesus come!

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