Friday Nurturing Content - 01/26/24

Happy Friday, Friend!

We’re approaching our final days of January and are wrapping up our theme of “Seeking God’s Will.” My prayer for you is that you have not only come up with a personal Scripture for 2024 to reflect our monthly challenge, but that you’ve implemented some of the tidbits of knowledge that have been sprinkled into your weekly emails along the way.

Today, I want to share with you a little bit about what it means to trust God, especially when things don’t go as planned.

A big part of seeking God’s will—and, especially, living out His will—revolves around trust. When we trust God, we acknowledge that He knows us better than we know ourselves. This trust is the foundation of a deep relationship with our Creator, which allows us to surrender our plans and desires, and embrace His plan for us.

Trusting God's guidance, even when it might seem unclear or different from what we envisioned, is an act of faith. In good times, it can be pretty easy to trust God. However, it is when times are difficult, that it becomes most challenging to let go of our desire to be in control, despite knowing that it is most important to trust God in these moments.

When you trust someone, you feel comfortable being honest with them about pretty much anything. God is certainly much more reliable than even your most trustworthy friend! So, when things feel difficult, you don’t have to keep those feelings to yourself; you can share them with God.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” -1 Peter 5:7

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” -Psalm 56:8

When you feel like your emotions are running your life, don’t sit in them all by yourself. Instead, bring them to God and let Him help you. He can handle all your emotions, especially the big, negative ones! He cares about you, and you can trust Him with those things.

When you trust God, you go to Him (in prayer and through His word) when your life becomes unpredictable or hard. Your trust becomes an act on obedience as you listen and follow through with what God has to say in His Word, knowing and believing that He will, ultimately, take care of the rest.

Here are 3 easy, practical ways to practice trusting God in your life:

Seeking Truth in Scripture

It is obvious that God’s word is important in the daily life of a Christian. It is the source of our hope, wisdom, help, courage, strength, and direction. It is also an impressive history book that records, time and time again, how God has responded in the past with regard to difficult circumstances or challenges.

God’s word is unchanging and unfailing and you can trust God in any situation because of His great track record. When you face hard times, make sure you’re running to His word for guidance and direction; otherwise, you’ll likely fall for the lies from the enemy.

Confessing Unbelief

There is a story in Mark 9 of a man who brought his son to Jesus for healing as the son was possessed by a demon. The man asked Jesus to heal his son, stating “if you can.” Jesus asked the man if he did not believe that Jesus could heal, and the man answered that he did believe, but that it was very difficult to do so. He then goes on to say, “help me overcome my unbelief!” (v.24)

We may know the truth and yet not believe it. Or, we may know the truth and struggle in believing it. God knows our humanity and is unfazed by it. When we confess to Him that our beliefs and feelings do not always align, we allow ourselves to be honest and truthful before Him. And, in that place of humility, we are able to ask Him to bridge the gap between the truth and our unbelief.

Sharing in Community

The enemy’s greatest tactic is to isolate us. Whether it is our thoughts, our feelings, or our experiences, he wants us to feel like no one else is thinking, feeling, or going through this. That we are utterly alone. What a lie!

God’s word tells us that Jesus daily walks with us and is with us every step of the way. He also gives us other believers to walk with and share our burdens with. In Philemon 1:6, Paul reminds a fellow believer that a partnership in faith is “effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.”

Let us embrace our faith communities and let us remember to be open and honest with others who share our faith… so that we may be encouraged, prayed over, supported, and reminded of the fact that we can always trust God!

I leave you with this final verse of encouragement:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” -Romans 8:28

Dedicated to your success,

Tam

P.S. Join us over at the Christian Authors Network to see what our new monthly theme and challenge is for February and to catch up on all the latest news and happenings in our group.