Trusting God

The topic of trusting God has seemed to come up a lot lately. Ever have that happen with a topic? I am convinced that's God's way of saying you need to start listening and work this out. I am not a very trusting person as I would guess a lot of you aren't. Lack of ability to trust can come from several different things. Child psychologists would argue that like most learned behaviors, it stems from childhood experiences that put the child in a situation where they found they couldn't trust people closest to them. It could stem from experiences as you grow older when you have trusted people, sometimes against your better judgement, and that trust was violated. It could be you seeing the effects of broken trust in other people's lives. It could be you like to be in control and trust involves giving up some of those factors of control. Whatever the reason is, you feel you are justified in not trusting people. After all, who likes to get hurt? Then I got to thinking... are these the same reasons I don't trust God? I know I say I do, but I am sure God is sitting on His throne shaking His head saying something to the effect of actions speaking louder than words, a phrase I use often. And He is right. Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are Proverbs 3:5-6 -- "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He WILL direct your paths." Our trusting God in any given situation, no matter the severity, doesn't hinge on our understanding! In a world of wanting to know "why?"  we are told to quit asking why and trust God because He does know what's best. Not us. He will work out His will through us. Not our will. Not our wants and wishes. We are called countless times throughout the Bible to trust God to get us through the situation. Through job changes. Through a loss of someone we hold dear. Through economic hardships. Through family troubles. Through EVERYTHING!! And God is faithful. He won't hurt us or betray our trust. He has our true interest at heart. He loves us with a love that I for one will never be able to fathom. Who are we to think we can do it on our own? Trust Him.

New Things

A lot of things run through my head late at night when I can't sleep and last night I got up this crazy idea to start a blog. I have no idea what I will write about or how often, but I love trying new things. Who doesn't? And I LOVE feedback of any kind so feel free to comment on these blogs. We are, as a whole, in one of the most stressful times of the year so for now I just want to leave you with one thought: You don't have to do everything, be everyone to everyone or be everywhere all the time. (Lots of universal positives in there!) All too often we pile things on our plate until they literally crack from all the weight and then wonder why we are so stressed out. Take things one day at a time and focus on the things that really matter in this life. Don't take on too much this holiday season or try to please everyone because bottom line, pleasing everyone is a flat impossibility and it will drive you crazy in the process! "Each day is a gift and not a given right." Make the most of it.

Disclaimer: And of course, when I say "you," I mean myself even more.