I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
Author Jerry Bridges talks about the need to trust God…no matter what. In his book, Trusting God, Bridges says this, “What I had to do was to decide if I would trust Him, even when my heart ached. We must learn to obey God one choice at a time; we must also learn to trust God one circumstance at a time. Trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will. I never feel like trusting God when adversity strikes, but I can choose to do so even when I don’t feel like it. That act of the will, though, must be based on belief, and belief must be based on truth.”
Trusting God is a matter of the will
Isn’t it a wonderful and truly amazing truth that God never leaves us to fight life’s battles on our own? He covenants with us to never stop doing good to us (he never leaves us); he inspires us to fear him (as in we are in awe of who he is); and he rejoices in doing good to us (he takes even the worst that happens in this life and transforms it).
God can transform the worst into something beautiful
Yes, God promises good to us even when our circumstances and our emotions are screaming the opposite. And yes, sometimes it is difficult to see past the present suffering and view our trials through an eternal lens. But we must learn to trust him as Jerry Bridges notes, “Trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will. I never feel like trusting God when adversity strikes, but I can choose to do so even when I don’t feel like it.”
Don’t allow emotions to rule your life
When we choose to fully trust God despite the pain and suffering we are facing, we then begin to reap the benefits of that obedience. God strengthens our faith, enlarges our vision, and pours out his grace upon us to respond in faith and in confidence in God’s ability (and willingness) to supply our every need.
Practicing Grace and Gratitude
- Grace and gratitude from God – I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them. This week, I’ll spend time each day journaling God’s past faithfulness to me and focusing on those specific moments when he transformed hardships into something beautiful and good.
- Grace and gratitude in me – I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. Each day I will locate verses that have the word “fear” in them and explore more fully how fearing God is a good thing because we learn how glorious he is and how we should be in awe of him.
- Grace and gratitude in life – I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. At least two times this week, I will send out cards of encouragement to those I know who are facing debilitating circumstances and I will share with them how God faithfully met me in my time of need and brought blessing and goodness to me despite the challenges I was facing.
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