LIVING OUR LIVES, TRUSTING IN OUR LORD
Sakkie Parsons
I would like to share with you the following:
I was listening to someone when I started to think of my own, very difficult, sorrowful circumstances, as well as some of my dear friends, wonderful children of our Lord, who also walk through this life in very difficult circumstances – on our way to our wonderful eternal home.
I thought how satan sometimes succeeds in persuading (influence) us to hastily take things into our own hands because he knows, with thousands of years of experience, that we, in our humanity, will then worsen the circumstances we are in at the moment and change it into a real mess.
That's why our Lord in His precious Word repeatedly tells us to not be hasty and pressurized (anxious) but to trust in Him.
I share with you some examples:
PRO 10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.
PRO 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
The Amplified Bible reads as follows:
What we, as our Lord’s children, sometimes do is; we concentrate so much on our present circumstances, that we, like Peter when he walked on the water, do not see Jesus before us, but only the frightening waves rolling towards us:
What came back to me and this is why I’m sharing this writing with you, is: We are to trust our Lord who in His Word says to us:
1COR 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation (tribulation) He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
We also read:
HEB 13:5 … for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
HEB 13:6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
What we need to do if we look at our circumstances and become impatient because – so it seem to us – our Lord is not acting, we must just keep our eyes on our Lord and trust in Him. Because that's what He wants us to do:
PSA 27:13-14
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
PSA 33:18-22 (NLT)
18 But the LORD watches over those who fear him, those who rely on His unfailing love.
19 He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.
20 We put our hope in the LORD . He is our help and our shield.
21 In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy Name.
22 Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in You alone.
Then, as we walk with Jesus through this life with our eyes focused only on Him, though we sometimes feel like our strength give in, we remind ourselves that it is God Almighty who has His eyes focused on us and that He has written to us:
ISA 55:8-9
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Then it's wonderful to remember that somewhere in front of us, no matter what's lying ahead of us, but surely – maybe just at the next turn – just outside sight – the following awaits us!
1COR 2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him"–
Is Jesus maybe asking you today:
MAT 14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
In closing I also want to encourage you with the passage from our Lord's Word, which after my conversion became my war-cry every time satan attacks and tries to walk over me:
ROM 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Greetings,
Sakkie