Title: Trust God in the Good Times and the Bad Times
Scripture :
Date : May 21, 2008
Last Updated : N/A
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" - Jeremiah 29:11
No matter what the circumstance is, whether it is good, bad, or just okay, we are to trust God at all times. He knows what is best for us. Yes, we may have family members and friends who are there to help us out, but if we put our trust in God, then we can have the assurance that He will see us through it.
Right now, I'll focus on the second part of the title, which essentially says that we should trust God in the bad times also.
Every time things don't go my way, or as planned, or when things turn for the worst, I try my best to always place my trust in God. I know that God has a purpose in my life, and in all of you too, and that He will never lead us into any danger or any harm.
That is why, when things don't go my way, I try my best to remind myself that, maybe it is God's will for the situation to turn out this way, because He knows what is best for me. And He knows the outcome of every situation. Our minds are limited, and though with reason and logic, we can come up with plausible outcomes of certain situations, it is only God who can know for certain.
For example, I am organizing an event for many students at my school during the summer. But at the same time, there is a camping trip that I was really hoping to go to, but it is on the same weekend. And no other date is possible for any of these activities. As you can see, it would be silly for me to organize this event and not attend it in order to go camping.
I know this is a very silly example which is representing only a minor "problem", but I do hope that you understand the concept and can relate it to any other situation, even if it is ten times worst. I used this example because I like to relate my own personal experiences to the lessons that I learn from the Scriptures, and this happens to be the most recent.
So, to continue what I was saying, I then began to think, "Maybe there is a reason that I can not go camping. Maybe God has planned things this way because He knows that if I go, I might get hurt, or somehow face danger. So as a way to protect me, He made it so that the picnic is happening on the same weekend to prevent me from going."
Another example is when I went on vacation and right before we were to leave on a little trip to go to the beach, my mom got really sick. Because of her sickness, we all decided to stay home (the house we were visiting). Of course I was disappointed, but then I told myself, and to my mom later that maybe God planned things this way because if we went to the beach, something worst might have happened.
If I didn't have that confidence that God was working for our benefit, to protect us from harm, I would just been stressing and moping and feeling that I missed out. But with this confidence, instead, I praised God and rejoiced, because though I was not aware of the benefits to come, I know that "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" - Psalms 37:23 NJKV where "man" includes all of mankind: man, woman, child, boy, girl, all of us.
"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 NIV
As you can see, had it not been for those "bad situations", we might have encountered something much worst. We don't know the future, but we know who holds tomorrow, and that is God. So we must place our trust in Him, at all times, because "His will can never lead us where His grace can not keep us."
However, this may not apply to every situation, where something bad is planned in order to avoid something worst. Examples are if a loved one is murdered or kidnapped…
Well, it is possible that such things are planned by God to avoid something worst, though I do agree, it is hard to see for ourselves, but God works in mysterious ways but for our benefit.
But what I really want to focus on is if these situations are not a part of God's plan for us. We must remind ourselves that there are two forces: a good one, which is working for us and ordered by God, and an evil one, which is working against us and is ordered by Satan.
It may not be God's will for a loved one to be murdered, but an evil plan of Satan's who causes someone to do evil against another, because they do not have the spirit of God within them.
But still, we are to trust God to strengthen us and pull us through, because He is stronger than anyone and anything.
So whatever you have faced in the past, are facing right now, or will in the future, remember to trust God for everything, because His plan is perfect, and though you may not see the benefits right now, do know that He is working for you and He is on your side. The best thing for us to do is to always pray and ask God for guidance and strength to pull through whatever we may face. No problem is too big for our God, because we are in God's hands, and no one can take us from His hands. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31 NIV
Here is a powerful quote to for all of us to meditate on:
"Don't tell God how big your storm is, but tell your storm how big your God is"
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