Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Sophia, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Abiding in Christ. You can learn more about Sophia on the about page.
Whenever we go through some thing that we consider a hardship it can do one of either two things with our relationship with God. We could either move closer to Him or farther away.
Whenever we go through some thing that we consider a hardship it can do one of either two things with our relationship with God. We could either move closer to Him or farther away.
How many times have we become resentful toward God when we were going though something because we thought that He had the power to fix it but didn’t? I am not ashamed to admit that I have been in the position in which I have been resentful toward God. Most of the time this stems from the fact that I have tried to make everything work on my own and things kept getting worse. As a result I continue to worry and have anxiety about my situation.
The Bible teaches us that
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
So what does that mean exactly. Anxiety, fears, and all those are emotions are associated with fear. Therefore when we have choose to believe emotions we are not trusting God. We are leaning on our own understanding instead of “abiding in God.” Sometimes this means trusting things with work out in our life despite what our circumstances look like .
I know for myself this is easier said than done. At the beginning of my hardship I have so much faith, but as things get worse and worse then I start to lose the faith and have fear. Having fear means that I am not trusting God, but to abide in God means to trust in God with no fear. As I went on fearing I realized that my fear was not making the situation better or worse and that God was seeing me through each hardship. It was when I moved beyond fear I learned to abide in Christ. I learned that I could not do anything, and I had to trust God. And one way or another God always finds a way to see me through the cloudiness.
When we learn to abide in Christ we know that He has plans to proper us and not harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). We have to trust that whatever we are going through in life that God will have our backs in both the good times and the bad. We have to be able to have life problems and never have fear of the unknown because we are one with God and God will see us through the way He wants to see us through.
That means also understanding that God’s way of seeing us through may not be our way. It may mean He is going to require us to give up something, go through storm we do not want to go through, and lose things in the process. But when you abide in God, that stuff will not really matter or phase you, because you know God will bring you though someway somehow. And during this process we must be careful, not be resentful, and always thank God for what we have. In the good time and in the bad, and in this way we know that we abide in Christ. Always trusting God, never fearing, and knowing that things will work out for the best, no matter what.
Amen. We do need to abide in the Lord and take every thought captive. He is working in us and through those hardships shaping us into the image of our Saviour. And even though it is painful we don't want a shallow faith but a faith that is strong and will endure the storms with the Saviours help.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
So True! Amen Ladonna.
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