Good and True
Dear You,
God is good. That is a hard thing to accept some days, isn't it? I mean the world is in chaos, we struggle with so many areas of our lives and we often see so much pain around us. So when we see all of these negative events take place so frequently, we tend to doubt God's goodness. I know I do this more than I'd like to admit.
In John 16:33, Jesus addresses our troubles. He says, "I have said these things to you, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” God never promises that by having a relationship with him, our lives will be made perfect. It's really quite the contrary! He promises that we will be bombarded with struggles. This world is full of evil, and unfortunately, we all suffer to some degree. But through all of this, He does promise that He will never leave our sides.
Deuteronomy 31:6 says "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” We don't have to fear anything because God is all powerful. He is strong and mighty, and most of all He is faithful. He is with us through all of our struggles and we can take comfort in all instances of uncertainty!
I have been through a lot of hardships in my life, just as we all have. But through everything, God has always been faithful. No matter how much I run. No matter how much I doubt and fight against him. No matter how unworthy I truly am. God is always patiently at my side. He loves me through all of my faults. I urge you to remember that no matter what the future brings, through both the good and the bad, God is with you. He will never leave you. He will never fail you nor give up on you.
Aside from my struggles, I've also been blessed with some really incredible things through this last year. Looking back I see that this year held some of my darkest moments and some of my most cherished. Through it all I can see that God was always with me, guiding me through them all whether I was aware of him at the time or not. I also see that He gave me quite a few of the things that I had been asking of him for so long and thought would never receive. Through enjoying these blessings, I became ungrateful and the desire for more grew in my heart. I lost sight of the great things that were present in my life that I had once prayed for.
During this time a wise friend told me this, “Sometimes we get so caught up in our desires and the timing we want them to happen in, that we fail to see that God is giving us the things that one day we so desired and now we are receiving them in his timing.” Often times when we ask God for something He may not give it to us in our timing so we lose hope in his goodness and faithfulness. We become blind to the fact that God has given us the things we previously asked for and now have in our lives; we take our answered prayers for granted. We fail to see that the things that we need were right here by our side.
Even if certain prayers are not answered, we shouldn’t lose hope. Sometimes God is telling us to wait because we are not ready for his answers. Sometimes His answer simply is no because what we want will lead us to harm. God knows what we need; He promises that He will provide for us. Waiting for God’s timing can be excruciatingly hard at times, but I know that in the past when I have waited on God, greater things than I ever imagined could have happened had taken place.
God is very aware of our desires, and He wants to give us the ones that are true to us and His plan. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God has unique plans for all of our lives. And because He knows our needs as well as our desires, He wants us to wait for his timing. Though we may not see it now, He is leading us into His plan. All He asks us to do is trust him completely and gratefully walk with Him one step at a time.
I've also learned the importance of praying to God even after He answers our prayers. Whatever our desires are, we need to continue to be in constant communication with Him or else we may lose sight of his loving presence. My favorite verse, Psalm 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever".
I don’t have all of the answers, but I know that my God is constant. And no matter what I am going through or feeling, I truly believe this with all of my heart.
God is good. He is true and He will take care of me.
Love,
Celina Kay
