A Faith That Survives - Encouragement Café - December 14

A Faith That Survives
 By Gail Cooper

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7

In a happy place, that is where I found myself and I kind of liked it, a lot! Summer arrived in its usual fashion and like it always does, I dove right in. Beach, barbeques, bikes, best buds, and lots of ice-cold tea. Not sweetened though because I am a northern girl!  Wouldn’t that be the best? You and I spending some one on one time together; sitting on a porch, cold beverage in hand, overlooking the ocean, having a heart to heart? Two souls sharing dreams, desires, destination vacation plans, and no doubt, discouragement.  Let’s face it, we all have days like that, don’t we? Days when all that is good is somehow replaced with grief. Mornings filled with mountains of questions. How do I get through this in one piece? Is there a way at all?  Will my faith be able to stand this new mountain in front of me? Sweet friend, if I could reach through the words on this page, I would hold your hand and whisper “hold on”.  God will make a way when there seems to be no way.

Listen, believe me, I get it… there is another new normal you’re experiencing.  Stuck in a place you’d rather not be and you’re seeing no light at the end of the tunnel.  Life just got back on track but now it feels once again dark, scary and cold with what seems like no way out.

Life comes at us hard and fast, when you least expect it. 

If you are not ready, when the wind starts to blow, it will beat you and break you to the point of no return.

I don’t want that for my life and my guess is neither do you.

So what does a girl do?

First, let me ask another question. 

Do you trust God with everything that you are, every fiber of your being?

Do you sleep soundly or do you lay awake at night listening to the breathing of the one sleeping beside you while all you want is for this season of life to pass? 

With every breath do you trust in His unfailing love, mercy and grace over all; or do you make everyone around you miserable because of the unknown?

Let’s be honest here, we’re all friends. If you’re anything like me, there have been lots of sleepless nights and more than enough complaints.

But did you know that God’s greatest desire through the trials is to usher us into a deep relationship with Him? A place where there is no room in our hearts for confusion, but only room for confidence in Christ?  He allows trials to build us, not to break us.

Some hard truth… sometimes that great depth only comes when we are facing deep grief.  

I will be straight up honest with you. I am smack dab in the middle of the doorway wanting to trust Him and afraid things might not work out the way I would like them to.   

Yet I know in my heart God is calling me to a deeper place in this season of life, one where my dependence is solely on Him. That is all that matters.

Trust is the one thing He asks of me, of all of us. Nothing else.

Today I stand at the edge of the entrance longing for good health, long life, happy home bustling with grandchildren; but I find myself lingering on the threshold of the what if’s stuffed in the back of my mind. I wonder if I have what it takes to do the “hard” one more time.

What about you?

Is God calling you to live outside of your comfort zone? 

In the midst of my weak moments, is a Father who whispers in my ear, “go ahead, keep trusting, keep believing. I have what you need. I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. In Me, you have what it takes to live with a reckless abandon.” Faith, even though your experience is hard, will keep you whole, confident and strong. You will be the one who doesn’t crumble, because like Jesus, you will experience the undeniable, immeasurable faithfulness of God. 

Friend, reckless faith is a trust that is birthed at the end of our comfort zone; a place where the unknown meets up with a known God. 

I have found that the way I react to things is a reflection of how much time I spend with God.  If I find myself freaking out and a bit out of control, I soon realize I have ignored The Father. He alone is the glue that holds me and you together when things are falling apart.  Dive into His Word, drink deep the refreshing words of hope, hold on to the promises of God.

Father God, when we find ourselves in a hard place you whisper in our ear “fear not, I Am with you.” We are thankful that we don’t have to have it all figured out, because You already do. You are our true living hope.  We love You Lord. Amen

For more encouragement, visit Gail at gailcooperspeaker.com.

© 2020 by Gail Cooper.  All rights reserved.

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