The Sweet Spot of Growing Trust (#533)
We all know what it's like. Life is caving in around us. Everything that can go wrong, is going wrong and we feel as if God is ganging up on us. And mail from a listen invites Brad and Wayne into a discussion about finding that sweet spot of trust where our safety in him is disconnected from the circumstances that surround us. In Scripture quotes that rarely appear on our refrigerators, God warned us repeatedly that life will be cruel and that trouble is a normal part of living in a broken world, even for his followers. He has offered us a place in him that ensures we are not alone no matter what circumstances we confront. Instead of turning on God at moments of pain, we can stay at rest in him knowing he is working on my behalf through anything, so i don't have to judge him, second-guess myself, or be anxious about uncertainty.
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Thanks Brad and Wayne. I am in a wait and see time now. But I still feel twinges like I am not doing enough or need to try more or be different. I am realizing God is with me and asking to follow where he leads me into peace and action that is with him. Even here he is with me. Even when life is in flux.
Great timely conversation,
The whole issue of having the mindset that when bad things happen that somehow it is because we have done something wrong or we aren’t in his “perfect” will has been a conversation that has come up in last few weeks with my daughter. She has been asking a lot of questions about how we understand God’s will for our lives. We just in the last few weeks have moved into a home that is also a in-home childcare. My daughter is in the process of becoming a licensed childcare provider and will take over for the gal, who currently runs it, in November. Anyway, since we moved in there have been many things that have happened that are not so good. My daughter has worried that maybe its because she shouldn’t do the childcare or she is not in his “perfect” will. I have had to reassure her otherwise. She has the make up and gifts to take this on in so many ways and have told her that the fact that she is trying makes it a successful decision, no matter what happens. I have had to reassure her of the Father’s presence in midst of every single thing we go through and that his will really isn’t such a black and white thing. We have such an awesome amount of freedom with him to try new things. My daughter is a planner and loves to have all things in order. She, like all of us, gets frightened of uncertainty but he is our certainty and he is so dedicated to us forever.
Love the ‘new and improved’ website, yet with everything ‘old’ intact. Great job!
At this time in my life, the ‘peace that surpasses all understanding’ certainly applies. I don’t have much that the world would consider as elements of a successful life, or here in the U.S.A. the goal of the ‘American Dream’ is something I highly doubt I will attain in this life. But there came a point I realized those things I only thought mattered to those people who actually wanted those things for me, to make themselves look and feel better, about themselves. It had nothing to do with me at all.
There are certain challenges ahead, some of my own making, that I am not sure of the solution, or the outcome. But I don’t think God simply wants me to sit idly by and let those challenges simply overcome me, yet somehow meet those challenges not for my own will and good, but for His. If it were up to me I would’ve been well on my way on several programs that promised 100% success, but fully delivered 0% of the time. Been there, done that. Indeed, it is a bit scary to wait on the Lord, but in saying that, I am not fearful. There is that human tendency to immediately fix what is broken, but remembering Jesus is the Great Physician, that task is futile.
Joe, I am also familiar with “twinges of maybe are not doing enough?” The one I really hate is: “God might be secretly upset with you and is waiting for you to figure out of your own what it is you should change”. That’s disgusting. Now I know it’s Satan speaking, Father would never subject his children under such a tyranny of doubt.
Brad, Wayne, I am usually not the kind of person to take notes. I just sit and absorb what I hear. But I have taken a few notes this time:
When I don’t know what to do I resist the need to act.
The answer is far less important than staying in the moment with Him.
Your Father communicates in a way you can’t be mistaken about. No second-guessing!
You may have said it a bit differently but this is the way it works for me.
Thanks for your words Evgueni. Some of what I am processing echoed in how you expressed your thoughts.
Thank you, Wayne and Brad. I’m so glad that you are doing this together again. I’m blessed by your conversations, I think is a conversation in 3, He’s always in it with you.
Wayne, i translated in romanian about half your book He loves me. First I thought I’m doing it for a friend, that does not understand english well, so we can have a conversation. Funny thing, while I was looking for the best way to say it, shaping and reshaping the translation to be as accurate as possible, carefull to stay as close to yours words as romanian language allows and yet be plain romanian, I realised how much I was also helping myself to get a new, more complete understanding of things that I thought I knew already. Father speak to me in the process, I was blessed. It is a joy to feel I’m doing this translation together with Him.
Doing, that’s how I feel when I write books. I’m working out stuff for me, and then am so surprised how that working out resonates with others.
Thanks Wayne, Brad…it was good reminder to stop trying to fix things that are best left in our Father’s hands. It so easy to forget and hit the panic button.
By the way, the new look of the site is very professional and inviting.
I am glad the two of you are back together. I like the conversation.
Sounds like Fort Macmurray has really made news down south of the 49th. I was just in the states last week (Wisconsin and Illinois) and I was surprised to hear how many knew of the fire.
In the midst of the challenges of what this fire has done to our province, I have seen people shine in who they were made to be. Individual people have given and given again to people who have lost homes. The kudos go to the people here, not so much the organizations. It’s people. People have spearheaded the compassion. I am thankful that organizations like the Red Cross and Food Banks are there to organize efforts… but the real stories of compassion are about the individual people finding a need and doing what they can to help out… Isn’t that what the Church is supposed to look like, the Body of Christ in action… one at a time.
Ruby Neumann (from Edmonton area… 5 hours south of the fire)
wow, that was one of those conversations that I have to listen to again and make notes. So many nuggets! And very timely for my own situation and journey into the unknown.
If God is my certainty, then I don’t have to worry about my circumstances. Thanks for another point to ponder. Actually, heck with ponder, that’s a truth to wake-up to.