Sunday Blogvotional: Finding Peace

Have you ever been in this situation? The roads are icy and visibility is limited.  The little you can see reveals a whole lot of cars spun out on the side of the road.  Things seem pretty dim and scary but the driver sitting beside you is someone you completely trust. There's a long, icy road in front of you and you could be freaking out.  But you know you are safely in your driver's hands. You have peace in this because you're confident in his or her abilities to get you to your destination. 

Do you react differently when you go through the storms of life?  Do you freak out, worry, become tense because you don't trust the driver of your life?  Do the waves of your sea of life toss you around making you uneasy and taking away your peace?  Or do you trust the author of your life to get you through the storm and safely into the next chapter?

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Matthew 8:24-26

   
The apostles in the above passage were afraid because they didn't yet fully understand who Jesus was.  Peace comes from knowing God.  Knowing God comes from spending time with Him.  Read His truths - His promises. You will see His immense love for you and His control in every situation.  Talk to Him.  The closer you communicate with Him the more you will know the One who is your God, your Father, your Friend, your Protector, and your Comforter. 
  
Encouragement for the week:  It may be hard to let go of our fears and trust God completely. But the peace we have of trusting God far outweighs being consumed by fear.   Remember next time you start to worry - open His Word and talk to Him.  His peace will come to you.

Sunday Blogvotional: Be Still

It’s amazing how fast paced this world is. With cell phones and tablets bought and sold as if they were a gallon of milk. We have tools at our fingertips that connect us via phone, email, or social networks with all of our family, friends, and business contacts. These links are pulling at us to give them our utmost attention.

We link our personal, business and social lives in such a web that life becomes overwhelming and uncontrollable clutter. We can’t stop. We don’t want to miss out. Ironically, we end up neglecting our most important link, that which is with our heavenly father. These other links that tug at us become chains that make us slaves rather than a servant for the GREAT I AM. We need to quiet the clutter. Being still in God’s presence grants you access to who He is, was, and will ever be.    

Be still, and know that I am God;  Psalm 46:10

Encouragement for the week:  Take time each day to put the clutter away and spend quiet time with God. He will reveal himself to you in more deeper and satisfying ways than the world around us ever can.

Content contributed this week by "The Hubs" - James.

How Well Do We Trust God?

It's hard to learn to trust God when we don't give Him the opportunity to show His faithfulness.  How many times have you encountered a crisis, prayed to God for answers or help, then proceeded to deal with the problem on your own?  It's a very common problem that can lead to an even bigger problem. 

When we encounter a crisis and we're not grounded in our trust in God our fear and frustrations can take over and we react out of those emotions.  We get impatient for God to work.  We want our problem solved ASAP.  And as you may have noticed, God doesn't always time things the way we'd like Him to. So we try to solve our problems in our own time. 

All we really want is resolution and peace. And yes - sometimes when we take things into our own hands and get that quick resolution we think we feel peace.  But, the truth is, it's not peace we get - it's relief masquerading as peace.  True peace comes from waiting on God and trusting Him.

If we continue to respond to situations out of our impatience, over time our trust and faith in God diminishes.  Why? Because we haven't seen Him work in our lives for awhile.  He seems absent.  The problem isn't that He's absent - it's usually that we're impatient, we've ignored Him and we don't trust Him to work out the situation.

If we don't allow God the time and opportunity to work in our lives, how will we ever witness His faithfulness?  And if we don't see His faithfulness, how will we ever see and feel His loving hand upon us?  And that loving hand is where true peace comes from.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped.  Psalm 28:7

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. Psalm 33:20,21

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

Sunday Blogvotional: The Benefit of Trials

Nobody likes trials.  Pain is pain and nobody wants to go through it. Regardless of whether or not we want to have trials in our lives, they will inevitably come our way.  Sometimes they come in big hurricane sized storms and sometimes merely in the rain. 

Trials, however, do have their benefits.  Growth, for one, occurs when we experience the growing pains of trials.  And unless your goal is to stagnate in life and in your faith, growth is desired.  Trials also have the uncanny ability to reveal our true character and beliefs. 

John Ortberg says in his book "If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat", that our hearts our revealed and our character is forged when life doesn't go the way we planned.  He also says "It is in the act of facing the storm that you discover what lies inside you and decide what lies before you." 

Yes, trials can be painful but they can also be beneficial.  It's through them we discover who we truly are and how deep the well of our faith is.   Without them we have no way of truly knowing our strength in Christ. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

Encouragement for the week: When you go through a trial try to look past the present pain in order to see the future glory.  Even when it's hard to feel and remember this: God will never forsake you, hold tight to this truth and His glory will be revealed in you.