trusting Him...the blue Schwinn bike in the garage...

My OneWord365 is “trusting.” I am constantly amazed by the many ways God uses His word, His Holy Spirit, and prayer to draw us like a magnet to Jesus Christ and His will for our lives. Recently, God used the memory of a passage in the Bible study, Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby, and a photograph of our daughter on her blue Schwinn bicycle to remind me of His sovereignty and His great grace.

The five year-old girl in the photograph is now an amazing wife and mother of our two precious grandsons. God sees the end from the beginning, He knew the day we took the photograph of her waiting to ride her blue Schwinn bike in the Fourth of July parade, all of the plans, the hope, and the future He had waiting for her and our family.

Trusting Him, my daily prayer has become, “Lord Jesus, I trust You, You know what You’re doing…"

From Experiencing God: "For his sixth birthday, my oldest son Richard was old enough to have a bicycle. I looked all around for a bicycle. I found a blue Schwinn. I bought it and hid it in the garage. Then I had a task—to convince Richard that he needed a blue Schwinn bike. For the next little while, we began to work with Richard. Richard decided that what he really wanted for his birthday was a blue Schwinn bike. Do you know what Richard got? Well, the bike was already in the garage. I just had to convince him to ask for it. He asked for it, and he got it! What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "in the garage." It is already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get you to want it—to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things God already wants to give or do? You will always receive it. Why? Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased."

We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have—for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.—Romans 8:24-25 TLB

It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.—Philippians 2:13

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.—Romans 8:26-27

I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.—Jeremiah 29:11


Take a few moments to be encouraged by this wonderful song about trusting God, He Is With Us, by Love & The Outcome...
 

We can trust our God

He knows what He's doing

Though it might hurt now

we won't be ruined

It might seem there's an ocean in between

But He's holding onto you and me

and He's never gonna leave, no

He is with us, He is with us, always, always

He is with us, He is with us, always

Look up – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25 Pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

Look in – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25  Pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: “Because God is ______________, I will ______________.”

Look out – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25   Pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.  

* If you liked this post you’ll love this book – Name Above All Names Devotional: Focusing on 26 Alphabetical Names of Christ

the panorama of providence...

In this quote, Puritan John Flavel is referring to the fact that the Hebrew language is read backwards from our perspective—that is, right to left instead of left to right. Flavel believes that God’s providence or sovereignty must be discerned in a similar way–that is, backwards in time. It does seem that we can more clearly grasp God’s sovereignty when we look at our lives from a panoramic perspective. It is only then that we can begin to see how seemingly insignificant events are woven together and form the far greater picture of God's sovereign plan. I love the visual imagery in this quote by Pastor Ray C. Stedman:

When we step out of time and into eternity everything will be one big panorama. We will see the past, the present, the future all-at-once—perfectly unfolded and it will all work together for good to those who love God—and it will all make sense.

Recently I wrote an essay in response to the prompt, "It all made perfect sense…” A portion of my essay reads: “My daily relationship with a living Lord Jesus reinforces my belief in the sovereignty of God, that nothing comes into my life that is not filtered through God's hands of love. I believe there are no “accidents,” that every conception and every birth is part of God’s sovereign plan. I rest and find comfort in these life verses:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.(Psalm 139:13-16) 

I believe God planned who my birth parents would be and who my Mom and Dad would be, and both influences, plus His, were needed to help me become all that He created me to be. I believe that God sees the end from the beginning. He knows me intimately, He knit me together in my birth mother's womb, one day I will see Him face-to-face and I will know as I am known…and it will all make perfect sense.” I have included photos and a more detailed essay, How I Came To Be—Expect A Mystery, in my very first blog post in 2009.

My heart is so encouraged by this amazing video of Chris Tomlin's beautiful hymn, Sovereign...

In Your everlasting arms,

All the pieces of my life

From beginning to the end I can trust You

In Your never failing love

You work everything for good

God whatever comes my way I will trust You

Was this encouraging to you? Please feel free to leave a comment in the box below, I'd love to hear from you!

Linking up with Holley Gerth's Coffee for Your Heart as an encourager.