I want to be a woman of faith. But in the face of uncertainties, I cannot always fathom what God is doing.
I pray for healing for one, and that one is healed. I pray for healing for another, and that one continues to suffer. How I wish God would let me in on the “why” of it all. But He doesn’t. In fact, it seems to me that God shields His thoughts in mystery, and I painfully realize that His ways are not the way I would do things. I mean if I had more “control” of God, I think I would insist He send me important updates:
Thursday, pray for Cindy and Bob, as Bob will lose his job. But don’t worry; I’m giving Bob a better job.
Friday, little Jeffery will be bullied after school, and it will be an outrage. But this incident will help to put him on the right path to fulfill My purpose for his life.
Next Monday, Janey will dive into the darkness of drug addiction. It will cost everything, but she’ll finally find me on her darkest night.
In other words, it would be nice if God would share His insights about all that concerns me and those I love. I’d love to see His bullet points about how these difficulties will eventually turn out, but like everyone else, God keeps me in the dark.
So if God doesn’t always share His perspective, then it’s impossible for me to walk in faith, right?
Actually, it’s the other way around. I think we often get the notion that faith is the confidence that God is going to do what we say when we say it. But we forget that He’s our “boss”; we are not His.
So perhaps faith is the confidence that God is going to work it all out—for your good, for the good of the kingdom and for the good of your faith walk, even if you end up in a place, a position or a situation you would not have picked.
Sure, the job may be lost, the child may be bullied, your friend may succumb to a lifestyle of drugs and these circumstances may shock you and make you feel as though God has abandoned you. But what if God plans to use the same trouble the enemy meant for evil to bring provision, purpose or even salvation to you, your loved one or even those who observe the struggle? Then it would be worth all the heartache, wouldn’t it?
The bottom line is this: We can ask for miracles and trust God is at work, whether or not the miracle looks the way we would have picked.
Being a person of faith requires one to trust God without understanding all that He is doing. Yes, trusting God is an act of faith, an act we must all practice as we seek to build our faith in all the impossibles. Let it stir you to walk forward with confidence into all the good things God has in store for you! {eoa}
Linda Evans Shepherd is a nationally known Christian speaker and a bestselling author of over 30 books. She’s the president of Right to the Heart Ministries, founder of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and the founder of GodTest.com. Her latest book is When You Need to Move a Mountain.
This article originally appeared at leadinghearts.com.
