Trust in the Lord Archives

Shelter In Place And Shelter In Him

April 1, 2020 Gracie

facing fear

Are you afraid of COVID-19?

It’s okay to admit it.

We’re human.

The isolation from our loved ones and friends is very difficult.

Every day we face rapidly changing news about the shocking spread of this cruel virus.

It’s understandable for anyone to be apprehensive at times.

The shelter-in-place mandate now covers the entire month of April.

People are still hoarding baby wipes, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer.

The fear of the unknown looms above us like a black swirling tornado.

Why does it take so long to get a vaccine, and what is going to be in the ingredient list?

Why are some politicians and celebrities, and even a national news magazine laying blame at a time like this?

“That sure is helping!” said no one ever.

The seemingly nonstop news coverage, the lecturing, the virtual signaling, the branding of “the new normal” – all of it is frustrating.

I say turn it off and take a break from it during the day.

It’s okay to be tempted to fear, but please don’t stay in that gloomy mindset.

Complete Trust

Do you remember that encouraging Bible verse that goes like this,

“Trust in everything but the Lord with all your heart, and lean not . . .”

Whoaa stop! That’s fake and absolutely not how it goes.

Here’s the real verse, affirming God’s mercy and grace towards a sinful world.

Shelter In Place And Shelter In Him

Shelter in Place and Shelter in Him

Trust in the Lord!

God is absolutely ahead of Covid-19

He is still on His throne

He hears our prayers

If you find yourself on that dusty road to Emmaus today, and the circumstances in your life have left you confused and depressed, I have a word of counsel for you. Never assume God’s silence or apparent inactivity is evidence of His disinterest. Let me say it again. Feelings about His inaccessibility mean nothing! Absolutely nothing! His Word is infinitely more reliable than our spooky emotions. Rev. Reubin[sic] Welch, minister and author, once said, “With God, even when nothing is happening—something is happening.” It is true. The Lord is at work in His own unique way even when our prayers seem to echo back from an empty universe. – Dr. James Dobson.²

Remember the sparrow?

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. – Luke 12:6-7, (NASB).³

you are more valuable than many sparrows

There’s a beautiful and beloved hymn written back in the 1800’s that I think applies perfectly here. The Christian vocal group, Selah, did an outstanding version of it.

I hope it blesses you as well during these uncertain times.

# # #

² Dr. James Dobson quotation, courtesy of Dr. Dobson’s blog. “God Makes Sense Even When He Doesn’t Make Sense.” n.d., para. 15. Web. Accessed 25 March, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.drjamesdobson.org/blogs/dr-dobson-blog/dr-dobson-blog/2018/03/09/god-makes-sense-even-when-he-doesn’t-make-sense-part-1?sc=ALP

Our Exceptional God

Legends In Their Own Minds

September 18, 2017 Gracie

The Legends In Their Own Minds Are At It Again

I’m talking about the Hollywood celebrities who feel the need to bash our President at their multiple awards shows, on their “glorify me” twitter accounts, during talk show interviews, on their Facebook fan pages, and websites.

Legends in their minds

Seriously?

Reportedly, the Emmy Awards became yet another opportunity for some high-profile celebs to trash our President.

Did we expect anything less?

My husband and I didn’t watch the show. We knew what it was going to be like and happily watched something else.

Of course, not all celebs act this way, but the ones who are acting like brats sure can take over an awards show.

One of my favorite inventions ever?

The TV remote.

By the way, how many awards shows exist to honor celebrities? I’d try to guess, but the number seems to go higher every five minutes.

Wink, wink.

Feeling Powerful

The absurdity is ongoing.

In fact, one actress is very concerned that Mother Nature is ticked off that people in our country voted for President Trump.

Those devastating hurricanes that hit the southern United States recently, according to this actress, are Mother Nature’s revenge.

Again, seriously?

You can’t make this stuff up.

Many of the voters who voted for President Trump are Bible-believing Christians.

So apparently we Christians can, along with “Mother Nature”, help stir up the weather by voting for the candidate Hollywood doesn’t like.

Hmmmm. That’s good to know because I would like a nice weekend.

Controlling the weather

I will now attempt to control the temperatures for the rest of September to a pleasant 70 degrees. (smiling).

Good grief, people!!

I find it ironic that the celebs saying these things act so devastated by the election results and yet, don’t even give a second thought to the deadly embrace of their party line towards Planned Parenthood.

It’s a shame that Christians get shut down every time the abortion issue is raised. It’s happened to me.

I’ll remain pro-life, no matter what name I’m called.

Keep on keeping on. 🙂

Prayers Needed

Can we agree how lost these actors and actresses are, and in need of prayer for their very salvation?

If you’re not praying for the future of our country yet, now’s a good time to start.

We don’t know what the immediate future holds in store. Everything is in God’s timing.

In the meantime, we can be ready, pray, and we can arm ourselves with God’s Word.

And, our TV remote.

Keep our eyes on the prize, trust God, and delight ourselves in Him.

The following verses are from Psalm 37. Not cherry picking here. We can learn from David how we can respond when life seems upside down.

We can pray and submit to the Lord and rest in the assurance that when He comes back, He will judge righteously.

In other words, pray, don’t stress.

The battle is the Lord’s.

^*3Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
⁴Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

– Psalm 37:3-4, English Standard version (ESV).

God bless

###

Our Exceptional God

Trust In The Lord Even When You Hurt

July 21, 2015 Gracie

Trust in the Lord Even When You Hurt

It can be hard to trust in the Lord when you feel like your life is falling apart.

trust in the Lord even when it hurts Bad things happen.

A car plows into your vehicle and sends you to the hospital.
Your spouse says he or she has had an affair.
A friend is given a cancer diagnosis.
Your teenager is addicted to drugs.

These are huge wake-up calls and this small list doesn’t even cover what some of your friends and family may be going through.

It hurts a lot sometimes.

In my own family, there’s divorce, the loss of a child, the loss of a job, health concerns, and atheism.

Difficult questions come to mind when you wake up and get some bad news.

Where are you, God?

Don’t You care about me?

What did I do to deserve this?

When Did Life Get So Out of Control?

The hard fact is, no one ever promised us an easy life without cares and concerns. In the book of James 1:2-4, Scripture tells us that we’ll experience various trials.

Notice that the word “trials” is in its plural form.

And yet, we are still told to trust Him.

There was no exception to that command.

The Bible doesn’t say, “Trust in the Lord, except when __________(fill in the blanks with your particular circumstance.)

Is unshakeable trust in God an easy thing to have?

We’d like to think so, but not always. We’re not perfect. We have the very human, knee jerk, “fix it now” mentality and can rush headlong into finding a quick solution, all the while forgetting to pray and ask God for His strength and guidance to see us through.

God Loves us Always Remember, He Loves Us

The wonderful truth is that God loves you. Nothing or no one can take that away from you. You are His child.

He knows your past, present, and future. For His reasons alone, He allows certain things to take place in our lives.

God may appear to be silent at times, but you and me have to trust Him and that means in good times and in bad. If we pray or even talk to Him quietly in our thoughts, He will listen.

A Christian Perspective From Georgia

I asked a good friend of mine about her favorite Bible verse. Kim M. from Georgia chose Proverbs 3:5-6.

*Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make straight your paths.

missing puzzle pieces Here’s what Kim had to say about why this verse means so much to her:

“Our understanding and logic is not the same as God’s. We work hard to put things in a way that seems logical to us, only to find that there is always that piece or something that is missing. With God, He can see the whole picture so there are no missing pieces. If we place God in charge instead of us trying to be in charge, all of the pieces will fall into place, in accordance to His will and His timing. Trust God completely.”

That is so true.

Learning to Cope

How can you learn endurance to get through the hard times? There are a lot of options.

Pray. God is listening.
You can read and memorize Scripture, especially the verses that encourage you the most.
You can listen to some great Christian music. I have links to some great contemporary artists on this website.
You can attend a Men or Women’s Bible study. Once there, you can meet some of the most amazing people who have struggles of their own. The friendships often become lifelong.
You can help someone less fortunate than yourself. As sad as you may feel about some of your own trials, there’s always someone who is worse off than you. That will help with your perspective.
Lastly, you can get together with some of your Christian friends. You can lift each other up with support and love. Some day, all Christians will be in Heaven together where there is no more suffering and sadness.

That will be a very happy day.

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Real Life Stories of Faith