I wrote on this topic right before COVID… Not knowing that COVID was coming. Then, we just went through this past 14 months and I would have never thought my own words would need to teach me time and time again: Here Goes…

Most of life with God is not about us having some sort of huge faith.  Instead, it is a trust in God’s faithfulness.  He is the one who is faithful, and always has something for us that leads us into further truth, freedom, trust, and blessing.  Then, the trust that He is in control AND faithful, can set us free from the temptation to want to always control the process.  Trust in Him has a connection, so to speak to a powerful Source of faithfulness (Him).  To place our trust in any other, less powerful source of faithfulness (including our own selves), always ultimately leads toward disappointment and more pain. – note: I needed to hear this over the past few months in 2021

This trust in the one true Source of Faithfulness results in a kind of receptivity to a situation that undoes the work of the enemy between us.  In some ways, the first temptation that happens when we encounter difficulty is to see the difficulty as some sort of attack against ourselves, or our side, and to figure out what person or persons are responsible for that attack and fight back against them.  We then make the “other” (Spouse, Co-Worker, poster on Facebook, Boss,Person who voted for XXXX, etc.) the enemy.  They are now against us, so we must be against them.  It is then, that the enemy has accomplished goal one…. To make enemies out of ones who need to be together.  God is always, always, always about bringing us to Himself, and in us growing closer to Him, we automatically grow closer to one another, in love and unity.  The true enemy of us, Satan himself, is always, always, always about driving us farther from God, therefore also driving us farther from one another. 

So, our first response at ANY difficulty should be to turn to the Lord.  To honestly cry out to Him in that moment and tell him the truth of what we see.  It is in the honest telling the One True Source of All Faithfulness – God, the truth of how we see a situation, that we are now opening ourselves to hear from Him, the only one who has a true perspective on all things.  Simply doing this one thing would undue the opportunity that the enemy seizes time and time again to throw us into mistrust and sinful reaction to a situation.  Simply crying out to God, telling Him the truth of what you see, and waiting for the real truth from Him will set your life on a course toward freedom.  Freedom from worry, freedom from sinful pain avoidance (addiction), freedom from angry reactivity toward those around you, and freedom from the brokenness that all of these reactions create. 

Jesus demonstrated this type of open receptivity toward difficulty throughout his earthly ministry.  I believe that when Jesus said “I only do what the Father is doing, or only do the Father’s will” in multiple places in Scripture – John 4-6 has three different references and then again in John 8.  Throughout his ministry and life on earth, Jesus came upon a situation, and approached it uniquely, for that time, in a certain way.  There were times that Jesus commanded a sickness to be gone, there were times that he merely laid hands on someone and they were healed, there were times when he prayed more than once for a person and then they were healed.  In at least seven different ways, Jesus accomplished healing.  There were times that he responded with anger towards injustice, and other times that he responded with compassion and grace towards another.  Jesus demonstrated a perspective about present reality that knew more than what we saw.  I believe in EVERY situation Jesus encountered, there was a dialogue going between Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus would then respond in the moment appropriately and always toward glorifying the Father in all things. 

We can walk in the Spirit in exactly the same way.  Abiding in the Vine, connected to the One True Source of All Faithfulness, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can learn a rhythm of FIRST turning to the Lord and simply speaking the truth of what we see.  “God, I see this with my eyes…  and I feel this in my heart…”  Then, “What do YOU see?”  “Tell me what I need to know about what I see…”   Then, we open ourselves to HIS truth for us.  That allows us to begin to walk in the perspective of the One who has perspective.  When we make this our rhythm with the Lord, then, He will begin to lead us, in the Spirit, to walk powerfully in glorifying God.  Because our first response isn’t our own selves, and flesh, and brokenness, or fears, but can now be directed by the Spirit of God.  This brings true freedom and peace, and power to live a victorious life.  Turning to the Lord, and in honesty before Him, crying out, is the answer towards peace.

As you begin to ask the Lord what is next for you, and begin to discern what the future holds, KNOW THIS – God already knows what is ahead, and He already has waiting for you the best insight and path. Look for Him, Listen for Him. He’s worth it, and you are too!