James 1:2-4 ESV — “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
What brought me to this verse was the thought on how we as humans pray for God’s will, but then forget all about trusting Him to work “all things” out for our good. Romans 8:28.
When a trial comes to test our faith, we can do one of two things. We can either freak out and start thinking, “Why and how could this bad stuff be happening to me – this can’t possibly be God’s plan for my life!” Or two, we can cling to God’s word, stand on His promises, and witness firsthand His great deliverance that comes guaranteed with His perfect timing.
We know God has our best interest in mind, but when we throw our faith and trust out the window, we haven’t understood His ways yet, nor how He answers our prayers. Instead of letting our emotions sweep us off our feet, we can continue praying, trusting, and taking God at His word.
We can always see how God has led us in the past, which should be the key to trusting Him with our future. With God’s perspective we can appreciate knowing that all that bad stuff was His wonderful plan!
Letting go
How many times have we messed up God’s plan for our lives? We worried, fretted, and then finally took matters into our own hands. All the while, God was working out His plan on behalf of the prayers we’d already prayed. We just hadn’t seen God’s perspective yet!
The Lord is pleased not only by answering our prayers, but by seeing our faith grow too. We read in Philippians 4:6 ESV — “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” I’m learning to place my faith in God and trust Him over and through all the trials, circumstances and situations.
The next time before starting to worry and get anxious about anything, I plan to recall that verse, and also 1 Peter 5:7 ESV — “casting ALL your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
Jesus has always had an open invitation for us, and it’s found in Matthew 11:28-30 ESV – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The Holy Spirit is known best for His guiding abilities and promises to never leave nor forsake us. He’s comforting us when we least expect it, and will always be a gentleman reminding us to “let go, and let God.”
R Scott Holder writes on a variety of spiritual topics.
