Trusting God with Life's Adventures

It has been awhile since my last post. There has been a lot to do for me and my family. We have moved  to another temporary home. In Russia. With our present moving, we are not immune to a lot of excitement and decisions to make. Decisions on where to move or whether we will move, when to move, how to move, and what to move. There was a lot of stress and it has to be managed or there will be no thriving, only suffering.

Well, life constitutes change and transitions.
We go through life, and that means, we go through so many changes. We've gone through changes since we were conceived and will keep on changing for as long as we are alive. The factors that make us change may be our natural development, our circumstances, environment, and our choices.

As I see it, many have an easy ride through life; while others may have it rough and tumbling, with lives that are not so far from different from that of a roller-coaster ride. Is it because some people have learned how to take control of their lives? Our present society demands that we do so. However, we are told to 'trust in the Lord'. Proverbs 3:5, 6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." But how do we trust God? How does it look like?

My kids love to play the 'trust me' game with me. I'd put one of them on something high (like a table), and tell that child to jump, even without holding my arms out. When they were younger, I often would tell them, "Trust me", but now they would simply jump as soon as I say, "Jump!" And when they do, I catch them, being so careful not to drop them, then I would give them a little twirl. They usually squeal with delight and ask for more or demand for their turn at the game.

Trusting God entails:

       1. Knowing Him. My kids jump into my arms because they know me. I am not a stranger to them who doesn't care a hoot about them and their well-being. I am their mother who has carried them in my belly for 9 long months before finally going through a painful process called labor. But more than that, I have cried with them when they got hurt and sick, laughed with them when they were happy, fed them, bathed them, clothed them, prayed with them, played with them, sang and danced with them. I have spent time with them, even did life together with them. I go, they go. I move, they move. I sleep, well... they make noise until I wake up. :D

          Knowing God requires the knowledge of who He is, as our Maker, our Provider, our Savior; but it's more than that. It means spending time with Him. Crying with Him in times when we fail, and rejoicing with Him in getting a job, in getting married, in our successes, in our cooking triumphs. It means doing life together with Him, as there is no life without Him (Galatians 2:20). God moves, I move. He won't move, then I stay. My family wouldn't have moved to Russia without God, for there is no other way.

      2. Faith. "Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1. It is with courage and not cowardice that Abraham took hold of God's promise to Him of a better land. It is the same courage that made him obey God by offering his son as a sacrifice. He was confident in God's power to raise the dead (Hebrews 11:19), instead of giving in to panic.

          Going through life's adventures confidently requires faith in God's power and His promises. It takes courage that has been on his knees before God, conviction that has dwelt its mind on His Word to do what we have to do. And when we don't know what to do, or are going through a tough patch of road, we can have the guts to ask Him, "What now?" and have the assurance that He answers. Like, no school for the kids? "Now what, Lord?" He will answer and provide. I need a mentor. "You can be one." 

       3. Letting go/Submitting to Him. This is the hard part, as it should normally be so. I mean, hey, it's your life, right? Wrong. In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

        This is where most people forget. Jesus let go of the throne of heaven, came to earth so we may have life. I believe He is worthy of anything and everything that we have, even our very life. He is that Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:44, 45). Just as that merchant sold everything he had when he found the Pearl that he was looking for and bought it, so should we. It is only when we have learned to let go that God is able to work His power in us and through us. Imagine living life with His wisdom, His strength, and His character... our paths would be straight indeed!

I believe that having peace, even in the roller-coaster of life or whatever present situation we are in, involves trusting God, and to trust Him means knowing Him intimately, having confidence in Him and what He can do, and letting Him get to wok in our lives. I hope we all have a great adventure with Him.