Hello, friends! I’m praying for you to feel extra hopeful and encouraged in your faith today.
This vlog is an encouragement to bloom where you are planted at this time – even if it is somewhere you weren’t expecting to be!
To view my most recent vlog, please click the link: https://youtu.be/FnhvDAFetnk
Just a quick thought I want to share with you:
Whatever our need is, Jesus is the only One who can meet it perfectly. Whatever our void is, He is the only One who can fill it to overflowing.
Let’s take our needs, our emptiness…our everything – to Jesus today. Let’s tell Him we trust Him to deliver. And then let’s step back and watch Him work in our lives in the way only He can.
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col. 1:17 ESV
Raise your hand if you would like to experience God’s perfect peace.
Isaiah 26:3 tells us that God gives perfect peace to those who “keep their purpose firm,” and “put their trust in Him.” In addition to perfect, the Bible also describes His peace as transcending all understanding in Philippians 4:7.
God’s peace sounds like something worth pursuing, doesn’t it? Continue reading
Recently, I wrote a song that contains the lyrics, “Do not trust in what you see,” in the chorus. God continually brings this phrase to my mind as I pray for my loved ones who are facing challenges. There have been instances in which I felt as if God forgot to intervene or chose not to, and that is when the words, “Do not trust in what you see,” have served as a reminder that He is constantly working in the lives of people we are praying for. However, it can be difficult to remain strong in our faith when He is working in ways that we cannot see.
The lyrics of the first verse are: “Looking at our problems with human eyes, we don’t always realize that God is a god of miracles; specializing in impossible. When it seems like He is far away, when you can’t grasp why life’s working out this way – if we love and live for Him it’s understood: He’s working all things for our good.”
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good…” When I do not see (with my human eyes) situations “working together for good” for the people I love, I can easily allow my faith in my all-knowing God turn into doubt. Doubt about whether God is actually fulfilling the promise to work things together for good can begin to cloud my regularly unswerving faith. (You know, the faith that is unswerving as long as God is answering prayers the way I think He should…) However, His good and our good often have different definitions.
Our definition of good stems from looking at our life solely from our perspective and seeing how certain answers to prayer would benefit the people we are praying for. Our definition is very limited in scope. God’s is not. His definition of good comes from the perspective of seeing the entire universe of people, whom He longs to bring to salvation, and intertwining our stories together to form a beautifully designed tapestry. A tapestry that brings glory to His name. A tapestry in which the goodness of His plans for each and every one of us is woven beautifully throughout.
When we can get to the point at which we trust in the goodness of God’s plans instead of “what we see,” that is truly…good.
Lord, help us to believe that You are working in our lives and the lives of our loved ones even when we have difficulty seeing Your hands. Help us to not trust in what we see, but to instead trust in Your goodness and Your promises.
I want to share a song with you that I just finished writing yesterday! The end of the chorus, “Do not trust in what you see,” is a phrase that God keeps bringing to my mind lately. He is constantly working in our lives and the lives of people we are praying for…sometimes in ways that we can see and sometimes not. He asks us to keep trusting in Him and believing that (as Romans 8:28 says) He is working “all things together for good.”
Scroll down for the link, take a listen and as always, I would love to hear from you!
Here are the lyrics:
Verse 1: Looking at our problems with human eyes, we don’t always realize that God is a god of miracles, specializing in impossible.
When it seems like He is far away, when you can’t grasp why life’s working out this way –if we love and live for Him it’s understood: He’s working all things for our good.
Chorus: Amidst the chaos ringing loud and clear, God’s voice reminds us that we need not fear. When burdens on your heart are weighing, on your knees you’re praying, Can you hear Him saying? “Do not trust in what you see. My child, place your faith in me.”
Verse 2: Daniel was in a lion’s den. Gideon fought against stronger men. Sarah thought she was past her prime. God came through just in time.
David was hiding inside a cave. Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave. The thief felt defeated by his crime. God came through just in time.
Chorus: Amidst the chaos ringing loud and clear, God’s voice reminds us that we need not fear. When burdens on your heart are weighing, on your knees you’re praying, Can you hear Him saying? “Do not trust in what you see. My child, place your faith in me.”
Bridge: Since before we were born, we were called by His grace to pursue and reflect His beautiful face. So, remember when you don’t see the hands of God, You can always trust the plans of God.
Chorus: Amidst the chaos ringing loud and clear, God’s voice reminds us that we need not fear. When burdens on your heart are weighing, on your knees you’re praying, Can you hear Him saying? “Do not trust in what you see. My child, place your faith in me.”
gwenthielges.com 