Trusting His Love

Well friends, I shared with you all earlier that I have been in Jesus boot camp since October 2011 (Happy One Year Anniversary to Me haha). Today I am confronted with more molding and pruning and as always, it is uncomfortable, yet extremely beneficial. I am so thankful that the Lord takes time to shine light on the areas of our lives that do not look like His character for the purpose of purifying and sanctifying us. At the moment that we truly give up our attempt to run aspects of our lives and allow the creator of our destiny and purpose to lead the way, is the moment that God becomes the personal trainer. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a trainer but usually while training is in progress you are in pain BUT, the more you press forward, you began to see the results of the training. The same is true with Jesus boot camp, the more you stick to it, you began to see the results displayed in all areas of your life.  

Today’s boot camp session that God specially designed for me was about faith and fear. I am almost embarrassed to say this but, this is a reoccurring area where God wants me to understand that I have to FULLY trust Him in order to do my life’s work and that He IS in control. You must understand this, I have seen God do some pretty miraculous things in not only my life, but in the lives of others (not to mention that the same God of the bible is the same God of today), I have seen the power of prayer in a very explicit way. Yet, there are moments in my life where I am easily fearful of what will or will not happen EVEN THOUGH God has explicitly told me what my life will look like and accomplish.   

God spoke to me through a familiar passage in Matthew 14 where he called Peter to walk on water to Him. Let’s take a look at the passage below:

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-32

Just like Peter experienced, God has demonstrated His power, His love, and His ability to do supernatural works in our lives. In this short passage, we can identify a few things that translate to our lives today (I’ll highlight a couple). 1) Often we are not truly in expectation for God to do supernatural things in our lives. This is evident as we see that Peter and the others, although having experienced the power of Christ, were not truly in expectation of what God would do. They were terrified and experienced disbelief as Jesus walked across the water. How often have you read the bible and promises of God, God’s desire for those who Love Him (not just saying it but love Him through obedience) and are called according to his plan but not really expected for those things to happen in your life? God’s desire is that we will be in expectation for him to move according to His word in our lives. 2) The circumstances of our lives often cause us to lose focus and faith. Peter started out with his eyes on Christ (Good job Peter!!), then the waves began to crash and all of a sudden Peter took his eyes off of Christ (ahhhh!!! Come on Peter!!) and fixed them on what was happening around him. How often can you share the same experience with Peter? God has already told you (repeatedly) what the plan for your life is, He has directed your path, opened some doors and closed some doors, told you yes to some things and told you no (for your good) but the things that you see happening around you (or not happening) causes you to doubt what God said or become fearful.

Will you trust me? Do you truly believe the depth of love and concern that I have for you? When circumstances in your life don’t look the way that I have told you your life will be, will you STILL trust me? When everything that you see tells you not to believe, will you trust Me? These are the questions that God is posing to His children. To trust that He IS a loving father and that He WILL bring us to an expected end when we are operating in obedience and committed and submitted to His will.

I’ve heard it said (I didn’t say this, I just heard it said J ), “The most difficult task you will ever have to accomplish as a Christian is to believe that God loves you as much as He says He does”. This is the only reason why Christians ever worry, doubt, stress, or become weary. If we could just grasp hold of the depth of God’s love for us, our circumstances would never dictate our outlook on life. Daily we must challenge ourselves to trust God’s love more.

Ok Lord, I hear you. I’m pumping my faith weights and making conscious decisions not to pick up fear. Your word is true.

Lord thank you for your supreme authority and your long suffering love. Thank you for your patience in dealing with us as we strive to become more like you. Our desire is to live in your perfect will and for our lives to yield the highest amount of glory to YOU. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you and never on our circumstances. Thank you for taking time to teach us more about you and ourselves. Thank you for the grace to endure until the end. Reflecting on your sacrifice and love on the cross for our sins fuels our fire to love you more and to trust you more. Lord you are everything. Thank you for your love. Help us to “Be still and know that you are God” (Psalms 46:9). Amen.

With Love,

Kristin Sarai