We’ve talked about standing in a position of faith.
We’ve talked about looking ahead with hope.
But unless you trust that God CAN and WILL do what he says what he’ll do, it’s really hard to maintain hope and faith.
So how do we trust more deeply?
By shifting our perspective a bit. Because our perspective informs our trust.
When we normally see a problem, we think about ways to solve it. We spend time & energy computing, processing for solutions. Then we expect certain outcomes. And we get frustrated when they don’t manifest.
We may acknowledge that God is like a more powerful version of us, but we still assume there are only certain outcomes – the kind we come up with.
We see our problems from our human perspective and we assume that we understand all the possible outcomes. Our language reflects our own processing limitations: “incurable disease”; “irreparable conflict”; “inevitable family trait”.
We need to stop seeing God as a slightly more powerful version of us, who may or may not pursue the same solutions we’ve come up with.
We need to see God as absolutely trustworthy – because that is our lifeline out of a dark place.
Two things can help shift our perspective to trusting more deeply:
- Understanding that God is absolutely powerful… but He’s not just a bigger, more powerful version of us. Using computers as an example: his extra computing power means he has at his fingertips not just the same solutions we can come up with, but exponentially more solutions, all of which are infinitely more complex and elegant than anything we could ever solve. (See: Job 38.)
- Understanding that God is absolutely good. If he is not absolutely good, then nothing about our faith makes sense and it’s all for naught. If you cannot or do not yet believe that God is good, because life hurts too much and there’s just too much that doesn’t make sense, that’s ok. Simply whisper it to yourself every day, “God is good.” Those 3 words are a lifeline to truth, and your trust will start to shift into place when they take root in your heart. (See: Psalm 136.)
“God is good and his steadfast love endures forever.” Repeat that to yourself, all day, every day.
God’s power and majesty can be relied on because he is good.
God’s goodness is what makes his power reliable.
Let that goodness inform your prayers, your faith, and your hope.
Verses for next time:
Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:1-6, Rom 4:16-21
Luke 19:28-40, Luke 1:5-55
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Coffee Time Videos: To my fellow Christians facing fear, anxiety, or life’s struggles: Join me for morning coffee and quiet time in these ‘Coffee Time’ videos! I offer regular encouragement in short (under 20-minute) videos. I’ll walk through some great scripture passages to build a case for hope and faith.
This particular Coffee-Time series, called “Pulling Yourself Out of a Dark Place”, is for fellow believers who may struggle with fear, anxiety, life messes that seem inescapable, or just some basic questions of how to ‘do’ our faith when the rubber meets the road.
I want to give you totally reasonable reasons to look forward with great hope. Let’s calm fears, answer questions, soothe anxiety, and get you excited for renewal and revival.
Share this video with your friends to encourage them, and subscribe to this channel to see more…
Thank you, and see you next time!
Jennica Dixon 