Walking Through FireBeispiel

  

Day 1: Trusting God

A difficult childhood. Losing a child. Chronic illness. An unexpected divorce. If it were up to me, I would have written my story differently. It involves disappointment and loss, and if you’ve lived long enough, your story probably does too. Trusting God can seem impossible, especially when pain seems to fill every waking thought. Yet with each fiery trial, I’ve sensed God’s presence more closely, become more certain that He would never leave me, and been reassured that He would bring beauty from ashes. 

Scripture is filled with people like Job who faced unimaginable pain, and while they may have despaired in the middle, in the end, it deepened their faith. Within a short period, all of Job’s children died, his wealth was destroyed, he was in constant physical agony surrounded by an angry wife and friends who didn’t comfort him well. Job wrestled with questions about why this happened, while his friends dogged insistence on an explanation further added to his pain. Yet by the end of the book, Job said this about God: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:1). Though he never got an answer to his “why” question, Job chose to believe God was still sovereign and in control. He chose, as the Psalmist did, to trust the Lord who bids us: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10).

No matter what you are facing today, choose to trust God with your story. He is there beside you as you walk through the fire. 

Ask:

What am I facing right now that I need to choose to trust God in the midst of? 

Pray:

Lord, life is full of difficult and painful things. Help me to learn to trust you as I face the challenges of living in a broken and sinful world. Help me to say “even if” when I find myself facing my worst-case scenario. In your name I pray, Amen.