Can I Really Trust God With My Future?

“If I do things my way I will be happy. I can’t trust God with something like this!”

“God’s ways are too religious for me, I need to make things happen my way or else I won’t be happy.”

“Only I know what I need. My future is my problem. Jesus can just come along with me for when I need help.”

“This is too precious a thing to trust God with.”

All of these statements are made from people who have distrust in their hearts. God’s power and sovereignty is not real to them. They think they know what is best for them-they know what will make them happy, they know how to get it and they do it on their own terms without God. Sometimes, Christian girls (and men) have things in their lives that they are not willing to relinquish even though they know it goes against what God wants for them.

They think God doesn’t want what they want. They don’t know His motives, (no one does) so they don’t trust that He will make them happy.

Letting Go of Pain and Suffering

When we look around at the circumstances of people in the world today, we discover that there is a vast amount of suffering and pain being endured. Many different people struggle with many different types of suffering. Hospitals are full of horrible diseases and injuries, parents are getting divorces, babies are being aborted, war is raging, people are being sold into slavery, drug abuse and alcoholism is affecting more and more people and the list goes ever on and on.

People are hurting. Everyone is affected by suffering or pain at one point in their life-it may not be physical but everyone goes through tragedy. And when they do, they look up to the sky in a moment of anger and rage and ask the all too familiar question “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?” Or “If God is so good, why does He allow suffering?”

Addressing this topic has not been easy. Books have been written, sermons have been taught, and speeches have been made. But this is what God showed me when I went through a tragedy of my own last month. I was at a low point and my heart was crying out to God. I felt like David in Psalms 69 when he said:  “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.  I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God.” Verse 1-3

When You Become Jealous of the World

If you are at all like me, you have a busy life, with lots to do, lots of work, lots of family, and a lot of responsibility. My family owns and operates a web design business from home; we home-school, cook and clean, care for a 20 acre Ranch, and care for each other on a daily basis.

With all of the work that is put into our farm and business it’s easy to become discontent and unhappy with the life that God has provided. One of the things that has helped me focus on what is important in life is this motto: “Love God, Love Your Family.” It reminds me that if I accomplish anything today, my biggest accomplishment would be that I loved God and loved the family that He has given me. After all that’s all that matters in the end; love.  Not a physical love, or a romantic love, but a self sacrificing, a whole hearted, self-yielding, and devoted love.

 

Loving your family is one of the hardest things to do sometimes. You’re in the same house with the same people almost 24/7 and it can wear on a girl’s nerves! But we as women and girls, who are unmarried, are called to love and devote our time to loving and building with inspiration, the families that we have been placed in. We read over and over in the Bible verses and chapters like Titus 2, Proverbs 31, 1 Peter 3, Ephesians 5, and one of my favorites: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13.

Purity, a Thing of the Past

Last night was the launch of Taylor Swift’s new and “improved” album, 1989. Girls everywhere are raving about the new pop icon’s greatest success and her amazing new style of music. I can’t help but notice that Taylor got her popularity by singing about broken relationships and whimsical love story songs. Don’t get me wrong. I love Taylor Swift and I used to truly respect and look up to this girl.

Taylor was my fashion icon for several years. She wore beautifully vintage feminine dresses and adorable, chic feminine clothes. I used to be able to relate to her on several issues in life and was ecstatic to find out that she wanted to be a stay at home mom and that she loves feeling like a “1950’s housewife”. Here is what she told an interviewer for Harpers Bazaar in 2012: “Being a mom full time, doing everything for my kids, having a bunch of them. One day. But that’s the only other thing that could be as thrilling for me as doing this.”

But I think materialism and the coldness of this modern age crept into Taylor’s beautiful vision and corroded it. As of late, Miss Swift has traded in her cute retro dresses and long hair for crop tops, miniskirts, bralettes with tight leather pants and short hair. She has told many magazines including Rolling Stones, People Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The Huffington Post that she has recently come to “embrace feminism and her independence”.

Gaining Patience Through Trials and Tribulation

The topic of this article is having patience in tribulation. I would like to share a personal experience with you to start things off. When I was 16 I was moving some very heavy furniture by myself. (I’ve never been the one to wait for the man power!) Well the next day my lower back was in terrible pain. I didn’t know what was wrong with it at the time but after several cat scans, x-rays, and MRI’s the doctors told me I had a slightly ruptured disc in my back. The news was unbearable for me as I was expected to be on bed rest for 2 years! I was 16…I was not happy. The doctors gave me pain pills for my back but I refused to take them-they made me irritable and sick.

The pain was so bad at one point that I couldn’t lift a milk jug without almost dropping it. I had trouble holding my neck up sometimes. All I could do was sit and wait. My personal life and relationships were heading for disaster. I was always mad. I couldn’t help myself; I couldn’t help my mom with simple daily chores. If any of you know me personally then you know that I never like to just sit. I like to be helping and serving! So this back pain was a major hindrance for me. Not just in my physical state but also in my spiritual walk with the Lord and with my family relationships. This went on for about 2 and half months.

But after reading my Bible and surrendering my situation to God something happened. God has the power to confound even the wisest of doctors. My back was healed! My family and friends had often prayed for my healing and God had answered prayer! I was ecstatic! I wouldn’t have to waste time on the couch anymore, I wouldn’t be a burden to my family, I could play sports, and no more depressed days spent on the bed. I was back to my normal life.

Some of you may have gone through horrendous trials in your life. Many of you have experienced hardships and tribulations. All of us will experience trials throughout our entire lives. Jesus said in John 16:33 … “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart, I have overcome the world.”