Learning to TRUST Him

Lately, I have been in a season of trial through which God is really testing me to TRUST HIM.

He's been telling me to:

Trust Him even when I don't see a step ahead.

Trust Him even when I don't see any other possibilities.

Trust Him even if I may end up in places that I never expected myself to be.

Trust Him even when my loved ones are affected by my decision.

Trust Him by really letting go of all my plans and expectations.

Trust Him by acknowledging that He knows all of my needs and what's best for me.

Trust Him by being at peace not knowing where I am going.

Trust Him by solely knowing who this God is that is leading me.

Honestly, I thought I trusted God "pretty well," until through these trials God has revealed how little my faith has been. By trusting Him I gain it all, but it's so hard to get to that point of really trusting Him as a child trusts...

Lord, give me child-like faith, to trust You without any calculation, reasoning, or doubt. You are trustworthy. There is no other like You. Help me because I can't trust You on my own...

Leave Room for God

From My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

http://utmost.org/

"When it pleased God..." - Galatians 1:15

As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him--to God "elbow room." We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly--God meets our life "...when it pleased God..."

Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."

"For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace."

- Ecclesiates 3:1-8

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."

- Ecclesiates 3:11a

If there is a time for everything and He has made everything beautiful in its time, what do we do? We simply trust Him, in His goodness, in His sovereignty, in His love for us, the love that did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up us for all...

Lord, have mercy and help our unbelief.

Apostle Paul's Logic in 2 Corinthians 12

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-10


What D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones thinks the apostle's logic was in that passage:

1. Conditions are always changing, therefore I must obviously not be dependent upon conditions.
2. What matters supremely and vitally is my soul and my relationship to God--that is the first thing.
3. God is concerned about me as my Father, and nothing happens to me apart from God. Even the very hairs of my head are all numbered. I must never forget that.
4. God's will and God's ways are a great mystery, but I know that whatever He wills or permits is of necessity for my good.
5. Every situation in life is the unfolding of some manifestation of God's love and goodness. Therefore my business is to look for this peculiar manifestation of God's goodness and kindness and to be prepared for surprises and blessings because 'His ways are not my ways, neither His thoughts my thoughts'. What, for example, is the great lesson that Paul learned in the matter of the thorn in the flesh? It is that; 'When I am weak then am I strong'. Paul was taught through physical weakness this manifestation of God's grace.
6. I must regard circumstances and conditions, not in and of themselves therefore, but as a part of God's dealings with me in the work of perfecting my soul and bringing me to final perfection.
7. Whatever my conditions may be at this present moment they are only temporary, they are only passing, and they can never rob me of the joy and the glory that ultimately await me with Christ.

from Spiritual Depression by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
(I highly recommend it for any believers!)

An OT Moment

So most of you guys probably know that I'm studying to become an occupational therapist. What an occupational therapist does... just ask me in person if you want to know (it will take me some time =P)

Anyhow, I totally had an OT moment (better than a Kodak moment) today and wanted to share it! So I work at this academy called Reading Town where I tutor children in English and math either one-to-one or two-on-one. I had this one student in kindergarten for the past few weeks. As I have been learning more about pediatrics at school, I've come to notice that he may have some sensory issues. He puts things like eraser, tissue, his hand, etc. in his mouth constantly and displays some behavioral problems. So being an OT student, I tried some strategies I've seen/learned at fieldwork to help him with his behavior problems. I would make him jump up and down if he was getting really tired/unfocused, then he would BURST up with energy. So definitely this kid has sensory issue and is highly sensory seeking (sorry for all the terminology ionno how else to explain it concisely). Anyhow, so afterwards I was telling my boss about his behaviors and she told me that he had the same issue during the summer session and that his mom is actually planning on getting him evaluated. I tried to explain what the cause of his behaviors may be and when his mom came in, the boss asked me to explain to her what I had explained. So I did. And his mom was telling me that she's been noticing his abnormal behaviors and that has heard from a teacher that he may have sensory issues, but she didn't quite understand why. So I tried to explain to her as much as I can within my scope of knowledge and she nodded saying it makes sense. And at the end of the conversation, she burst in tears in saying that it was reassuring to hear me explain this to her because she just had absolutely no clue before! And of course I teared up a little. She thanked me for letting her know and giving her even a little strategy in giving him some sensory input. And honestly, at first I was hesistant about letting her know because some parents are very sensitive and would rather not hear from others that their kid has a problem. But this lady was so grateful and was planning on taking him to get tested.

And yeahhhhh... It was such a blessing to be able to share the little I know to make someone else feel more at ease, to be used in a way that I didn't think I was capable of. I definitely am so blessed to be pursuing a career that I find passion and love for! Thank God for leading me to this path. Lord, please use me to be a blessing to others as You have blessed me with this wonderful gift.

Justification By Faith

(From October 28 devotional of My Utmost His Highest By Oswald Chambers)

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Roman 5:10

I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.

The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done – “It is finished.”

"Come to me..."

How simple that sounds, yet how hard that has been for me! There are so many things I want to fix about myself, and I just realized that I can't. I have tried and tried and I couldn't. But that is exactly why I need Jesus! If I were perfect, I need no savior..

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." - Mark 2:17