I have been clinging onto God's promise to us, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." This can be read in Hebrews 13:5 and various other times throughout the Gospel. With this, I came across Matthew 28:19-20 today in my daily devotional, "Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
God is with us through every moment of every day. His love for us eternal, and it knows no bounds. His desire is for us to become more like Christ; for our hearts to have his desires. He desires for us to trust in his plans that he has for our lives. But yet, we become impatient and try to carry out our own plans for our lives and often we become disappointed when our plans do not succeed. Christ has never failed us, and he won't start now.
I've been reading the book A Million Ways to Die by Rick James. Yesterday I read about Lazarus' death and resurrection. In John 11:1-11 we read about how Lazarus is sick, so his sisters Mary and Martha send word to Jesus the the one he deeply loves and cares for is sick. We would expect Jesus to immediately leave his place to go to Lazarus, but he doesn't. Instead, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days. Later in John 11: 17-22 we learn that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days by the time Jesus arrived. During that time, the faith of Lazarus' sister Martha had been stretched in mighty ways. It is painful for us to wait for the Lord and to trust that his timing is always perfect. In the society that we live in today, many people seek immediate satisfaction. Their every want and need can be satisfied almost in an instant. Martha remained faithful during the time that she waited for Jesus to arrive. We too, must wait for the Lord. As we wait for the Lord to reveal His plans to us, our faith is being stretched and becomes stronger.
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Faith is believing in the unseen. Just as we have faith in God, even though we cannot physically see him, we must also have faith in His timing.
We surely do not know the plans that the Lord has for us, but in Jeremiah 29:11 we read of how the Lord wishes to see us prosper, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Our faith is being tested on a daily basis, but we have to choose to believe that the struggle is worth it! James 1:2-3 talks about walking through the struggles of life. Through all of the struggles of life, we have to think of an eternal perspective. We may just be one tiny dot on a continuum, but we have the ability to make an eternal impact on the people that surround us in this world. "Consider if pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
As I continue to learn how the Lord is teaching me to grow in my faith, I know that He is pursuing me a midst the moments of joy and the moments of pain. God gave us His Gospel so that we may cling to His promises and His truths. My prayer is that each of us may learn how to cling to those truths and promises and we continue to carry out the mission set before us to go and preach the Gospel to the nations.
Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
