by Nicole Varner
“‘For I know the plans that I have in mind for you,’ declares Adonai, ‘plans for shalom and not calamity-to give you a future and a hope.’” Jeremiah 29:11
God has known you for your entire life, even before you, your parents or their parents even existed. He knows what will happen in your future, and He knows what choices you’ve made that led to where you are now. You may not like where you are at now, whether that be spiritually, mentally or physically, but that’s okay. God has a plan for your life, and the low points that you are experiencing now are just growing pains. God never said following Him would be easy, and I’ve seen people leave their faith for that exact reason. What they don’t understand is that going through hardships while relying on God is so much easier than figuring it out yourself. Although, to rely on God during hard times requires a great deal of patience and patience requires trust. If you can’t trust God to have your back, it becomes very difficult to wait.
It is so easy to become impatient when you have all the pressures of this world lying on your shoulders. Whether those pressures are deadlines, drama at school or work, or feeling stuck in a bad life, God wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to trust that He has our life in His hands, and He’s not going to let go. Remember this, He loved you before you ever loved Him. When you’re struggling and you feel like no one is on your side, trust that God is there. He has a tendency of taking broken people or horrible events and turning them into something better than you could ever imagine.
A lot of excuses I’ve heard recently about following God seem to consist of the same main idea: “Why would I want to follow a God who lets bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people?” That is definitely one of the harder subjects to address. We don’t live in a perfect world and because of that bad things do happen to good people and vice versa, but that gives us even more of a reason to follow God. There is a huge difference between going out into the world and trying to depend on yourself or others for answers to your problems, rather than depending on God. To rely on God requires a lot of patience and trust, which both sadly, are not very common character traits that people have nowadays.
Yeshua said that we are to have a childlike faith, and I can attest to that statement. The more you trust in God to take care of you, He will. For me it’s as simple as asking God for an easy/good day when I wake up in the morning. Sometimes that day isn’t easy or good at all, but looking back on those days, I see how God used those struggles to help me grow in my faith. Recently, God had been testing me on my ability to have patience. It is definitely an important quality to have. When I am patient I have to trust God knows what He’s doing, and something better will come along not in my time, but in His.
When you do finally give yourself completely to God, you begin to learn more about yourself and grow into a better relationship with Him. God wants you to go to Him immediately when something goes wrong because that is true faith and trust. The other morning, as I was getting ready for school, I misplaced my phone. I was already running late because I didn’t hear my alarm so I was in a hurry to find in. I usually put it down on a table or dresser while I’m getting ready so I look in places it should’ve been. During my frantic search I had a thought go across my brain, “pray”. So I paused took a minute and asked God if would help me remember where I put my phone. After I asked, I slowed down and got the rest of my stuff ready to go for school, and as I’m going to grab my book bag, I think, “maybe I put it in my bag.” Sure enough I open my bag and there it was. God has a funny sense of humor because the verses of the day on my bible app came from Matthew 7:7-8 which say, “‘Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, it shall be opened.’”
I find that it’s the little things that help you grow in your faith. From those little things God strengthens your relationship with Him, and as you grow He tests you to keep that relationship strong. Whether He’s testing your patience, humility, gentleness, or goodness, know that it is for a good cause and He’s probably trying to get your attention so you can change to be more like Him.
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