The privileges of believing and trusting
M.K. – CONTRIBUTOR
A couple of months ago, I remember hearing the words, “Life is hard.” At the time though, those words never sunk into my head because I was living life like nothing was ever going to go wrong. Nothing seemed like it was ever going to be heading downhill. But I was a fool, for ever not suspecting that the road ahead was about to get rough.
I was a fool for ever thinking that life apart from God (John 15:5), life without knowing God (Exodus 6:7), and a life without believing the God who is just (Psalm 7:11) in an utterly broken world — with human trafficking, racism, war, slavery, child marriage, discrimination, betrayal, heartbreaks — exists. The list is practically endless, but this is our reality.
If you think that you can live on ignoring the brokenness of this world and of your personal life, without acknowledging that there is a God, a ruler, and a judge to punish and reward you according to his goodness, righteousness, justice, wisdom, and perfection, then I urge you to reconsider your thoughts.
In the most horrid of situations, whether in your personal life or in a distant country, it can feel like there is no hope. It can feel like there is no God and it can feel like there is no end to this tunnel, and that life will be just full of darkness with no light to overcome it. But that is not the truth. Our feelings are never the source of truth because human feelings are never constant, but always changing, and subjective, and do not always reflect the reality of a situation. Our emotions are innately broken because we ourselves are innately sinful. But this is when the mind comes into play.
The very peculiar thing about the mind is that it can consider, focus, grasp, and cultivate an idea or a truth of some sort that individuals can wrap their lives around (Lamentations 3:21-22). This is how we battle against unbelief and this is how we overcome a deep distrust in the Lord, which all anxiety, sorrow, frustration, hopelessness, and despair derive from. We fight in our minds to call and consider (Hebrews 12:3) the unfailing promises of God to protect, to heal, to rescue, give strength, and courage, and to rejoice always in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:4-5).
God cares for the details of your life and the details of this world. Place your trust in his absolute goodness and absolute love for you as he offers you his promises and privileges of being his children living in this world. Here are some places you can go to read his promises: Psalm 22:8, Psalm 31:14, Psalm 32:10, Psalm 40:2, Isaiah 43:3-4, Matthew 6:31-32, Matthew 11:28, Mark 5:36, John 14:13-14, John 15:7, Romans 8:28, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Peters 5:7, 1 John 4:14; and yet, these are only some of many.
