Trusting God

This was the topic of the talk at Moore Women on Thursday night. Although I was extremely tired and didn't feel like going out, I didn't think I could miss a topic like this! Trusting God has always been something I struggle with. In my head I know that God is completely trustworthy but when hard times come it can be difficult to put this head knowledge into practice. How do I trust God when He brings along a hard time? He is in control of all things, so can't He make things turn out just as I would like?

Emma, the lady who spoke on Thursday night, reminded me again of the reasons why we can trust God.

Firstly, God is sovereign, which means He's always in control and has a plan. Emma spoke about God's providence, which is His constant care for and absolute rule over all His creation for His own glroy and for the good of His people. We were reminded of the story of Jospeh, who was sold as a slave by his own brothers and was taken to Egypt. Because of his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams, he was put in charge of Pharoah's palace. As a result of his interpretation of Pharoah's dreams, he saved Egypt from famine and Egypt was able to provide food to those who came to them, among whom were Jospeph's own Israelite family. Instead of rejecting his family and not giving them food when they asked for it, Joseph forgave his family and provided for them. He did this because he knew that God had a purpose for him in being sold as a slave, and that was to save many from famine, including his own family.

Secondly, God's perfect love means that he always wills what is best for us. Emma reminded us of the time Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows". We were also reminded of the verses in Romans 8:35-39 that tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ. Emma made the helpful point that if nothing can separate Christ and God (Christ is God) and if we are 'in Christ' (as all of us are if we put our faith in Him), then we can't be separated from God! Anyway, Christ died for us so He must love us, right?!

A problem.......

If God is totally in control of all things but bad things happen to me, He mustn't love me then, right?

Or, if God loves me but bad things happen to me, then He must have stuffed up and lost control of things for a little while, right?

This is a regular dilemna for me, but it is wrong thinking. God is in control of all things and He loves me more than I could know. We just need to accept it and trust Him, knowing that the things that do happen are in His control and happen in the context of His love for us. He knows what is best for us!

Which brings us to the third point......

God's infinite wisdom means that He always knows what is best for us. Emma's point here was that God has got a plan for us and it is always the best one for us. Most importantly, His plan for Christians is to make us like Christ and he will usually use trials to do this.

Most of what Emma spoke about is from the book Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges which I have read and found to be very helpful, especially when Dave and I were going through IVF.

At the end of her talk, Emma encouraged us to look back over the good times and hard times and be grateful. She suggested we all write down 10 things each day that we are thankful to God for and to make the first four things about God. She also encouraged us to make God our first port of call when something goes wrong, rather than relying on others. I think these are all great suggestions, considering we live in a culture where we are relatively ungrateful and tend to whinge about things rather than being thankful.