trust – Karen Gamble Writes

Belonging to God

I was reading a bible study book and it mentioned Psalm 100:3, which says:

Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. (NIV)

There’s a lot of good stuff in this verse, but what really stuck out to me was the second line –

It is He who made us, and we are His,

According to this verse, it is God who made us.

We weren’t made by accident. We didn’t suddenly just exist.

We didn’t evolve from slime somewhere.

God made us.

On purpose.

He meant to do it.

Because God has made us, we belong to Him.

We are His people.

This means we aren’t our own.

Category: Faith, God, Life, Submission, Trust | LEAVE A COMMENT

Peace for Today – Sunday School Outline

This morning I want to take a few minutes and encourage you.

These are unsettling times we’re in.

In some ways it seems like the whole world has gone upside down.

Store shelves are bare, people are getting really sick, the stock market has crashed, and all kinds of things are going on.

Yet in the midst of this, we serve a God who sees all this.

None of it takes Him by surprise.

None of it is out of His reach or control.

I’ve heard people ask why God is allowing this pandemic.

The truth is, I don’t really know but I’ll tell you what I do know.

He is God,

He is still on the throne.

He knows what is going on, and if He’s allowing it then there’s a reason.

Instead of second guessing Him or trying to figure out why, we should focus on trusting Him in the midst of it.

Here’s the thing, if we are His child, which we are if we are Christians, then we don’t have to worry.

We don’t have to be afraid.

What we can do instead is turn to Him for comfort.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 91:4. (NIV)

Category: Scripture Study, Sunday School | LEAVE A COMMENT

Thanking God In the Bad Times

As Christians, we are called to be thankful to God.

It’s not that hard to thank Him for the good things that happen to us, but what about when bad things happen?

Do we thank Him then? Should we?

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:18 –

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

It says we are to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

Not just in the good ones. In the bad ones, too.

That can be hard!

How do we thank God in a situation where a loved one is ill?

Or, a relative is seriously injured in an accident? What if they die?

What if a partner leaves without warning?

Do we thank God in these situations?

The answer is yes, we do. In all of them.

No matter the circumstance or situation, there is always something to thank God for. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have told us to.

We can thank Him that they only broke one arm, not both. We can thank Him the illness isn’t worse. We can thank Him for the friends who step up to support and encourage us.

Even if the worst case scenario happens, there are still things we can thank God for.

We can thank Him for the privilege of having known that person and having them in our lives.

We can thank Him for how He blessed our time together.

We can thank God for being there for us; for His presence in our lives as He comforts and strengthens us to walk through this season of heartache.

We can thank God for knowing what is the best outcome for the situation, even when we don’t understand or agree with that outcome.

We can thank God for working in our lives, even when we can’t or won’t see it.

It may seem impossible at first, but if we will focus on God’s goodness and trust that as Creator of the Universe and Author and Finisher of our faith God knows best as He is working all things together, we will begin to see where He is working in the situation.

Then, we can thank Him for those specific things. This will open our eyes to even more things He is doing. More things to thank Him for.

The point is we are supposed to turn our hearts and eyes to God and to begin to thank Him for the good things in our lives despite this hard situation we are dealing with as we maintain our focus on Him and not on the things happening to and/or around us.

Will it be easy? Not necessarily. But as we begin to thank Him for His goodness and who He is, our heart will begin to soften and we will begin to feel His presence. This will give us peace and strength that will sustain us through the hard season.

Will it be painful? Often. But, out of that pain will come healing, growth, and learning.

It will be a chance to grow closer to Christ as we see God for who He truly is and begin to better understand that He really is both working in our lives and interested in comforting and healing us.

It is this seeing His presence and work in our lives and knowing He cares about each one of us that will make it so much easier to give thanks for all that He is doing for us, both in good seasons and bad.

What about you? Are you giving thanks to God in the season you’re in?

Resolve

Every year I choose one word to sum up my focus in the upcoming year. It’s a guide toward what I want to accomplish in the days ahead.

In past years I’ve chosen words like courage, balance, and freedom.

This year I chose RESOLVE.

RESOLVE – (verb) to settle or find a solution or answer for.

At first this word made a lot of sense because I am determined to get some things dealt with this year. I have some spiritual habits I want to improve and a few sinful habits I want to eliminate. I also want to take care of some situations going on that feel like they are undone and dangling.

But then as I looked the word up in the dictionary to get a better understanding of it, I saw that the word has a second meaning.

It also means to be determined or committed to making something happen.

Reading that I realized this is actually the part of this word that I need to focus on: being committed.

The two definitions go hand-in-hand. I have to resolve or determine and commit to make things happen.

I have to resolve to resolve these issues.

While I was thinking about how it might play out this year I started praying about what my verse for the year should be.

Category: Submission | LEAVE A COMMENT