Last Sunday was Easter. We woke early, dressed, grabbed a smoothie, and made our way to the 9:00 AM service.
The sanctuary was full, the youngest of the attendees squirming in their seats excited about the party that followed the service.
The message reminded me that Friday’s crucifixion was only a prelude to Saturday’s silence and Sunday’s miracle. It encouraged me not to be trapped by Friday’s disillusionment causing me to miss the wonder of Christ’s rebirth.
The Pastor went on to explain how this extraordinary act forms the foundation for our conversion – trust the God that brings life from death and offers transformative power for each day.
We left the church, drove the 15 minutes home, and spent the rest of the day connecting with family and friends.
This morning I had a chance to revisit our Pastor’s sermon during my walk.
He had asked a challenging question, “Do you trust Him?” I think he was asking the question as a prompt for an alter call. But this morning, I took it as a nudge to evaluate my faith journey.
Over the past year, I have felt the invitation to examine my commitments and motivations. Is my faith pure, correctly focused, rightly dividing the motivations of my heart and my mind? Or, are my beliefs a product of tradition, how I choose to define myself (the good Christian girl)?
The walk took me up hills, along a riverbank, and down steep ravines. Each step offered a glimpse into my past, the ups and downs of God’s work, and my responses throughout my life. The reflection led to a single revelation. My faith is built on a wobbly platform steadied by my ability to control the circumstance. If my plans result in a quick fix, faith and trust grow. When my control, planning, and attempts to implement result in the need to wait, my trust sways like a tree standing unprotected facing gale-forced winds.
If I’m honest, my faith and trust in God are based on my ability to control. I think we both see the insanity of this reasoning.
The book of Hebrews offers this reminder about faith and trust,
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Faith is trusting God even when you can’t anticipate or understand the outcome. It is the belief that God’s got this and fully rest in Him regardless of the results. Faith is risky because you surrender everything to an invisible, untouchable, incomprehensible God.
However, the beauty of our faith is that God is someone we can know. We can understand His character, His love for us, and we can hold on to the truth during times when our human rational minds would drive us to try to do it ourselves or look for more tangible solutions, ones we can see and touch.
So, the question is do we know Him?
Do we know what the Bible says about our God? Do we believe the words that say Jesus died, and 3-days later walked out of a tomb? A tomb covered by a giant boulder and guarded by Roman soldiers. Do we sense God’s presence in the quietness of our hearts, like a whisper in our souls, or the beauty of a sunrise? If we know Him, then we can trust Him.
Trust Him for the career change. Rest on Him when life goes sideways and we are left picking up the pieces along a dusty and dry path. We can believe Him when the dream dies, a loved one leaves, and all hope has escaped our grasp. If we know Jesus then we know He loves us – died to set us free.
I guess the questions that remain are ,
Do you know Him?
Do you trust Him?
He waits for you dear sister.
You are His BeLOVED.
Trust Him.
Be Blessed,
ENJOY:
BeLoved 