Brennan Manning, one of my favorite authors, said, “The faith that animates the Christian community is less a matter of believing in the existence of God than a practical trust in His loving care under whatever pressure.”
It’s that, “whatever pressure” part that often trips me up. I find it easy to trust God when things are going my way. When my bills are paid, when my kids are healthy and doing well in school, when my family is not having serious health issues, when the church momentum is going well, I find it easy to trust God.
When the pressure of life come, it gets a bit tougher. When disease or disaster show up, if feels like a train just went through our living room. So…Is God enough for me? Do I trust the voice that says, “I love you”? “I knit you together in your Mother’s womb.”?
Jer. 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Do I really believe God is relentlessly faithful in concern to me?
When things are not going my way, trust is a lot harder. The root choice, however, is to trust at all times that God is with me and will give me what I need most. (Which usually turns out to be Him)
Faith, combined with hope, grows into trust. Life gives us lots of opportunities. Storms come. Storms go.
However, all through the storms, God is relentlessly faithful to us. In God, we trust. (Jesus, help me trust you more regardless of the circumstance.)
Blessings,
Thora
