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Welcome to Church Focus Ministries
Equipping, Encouraging, and Educating
God’s People by Providing Resources that are Uncompromisingly True to God’s Word
Church Focus Ministries is your trusted source for biblically sound materials
February's Encouraging Word
Come on, you can do this . .
Some Days, It's Hard to Trust God
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19
Some days, it's challenging to trust God. There are too many things to do. The work is too hard. Too many things are going on. Money is too tight. There are too many needs. The loss is too big. Relationships are too messed up. Days are too unpredictable.
Fear, failure, and frazzledness can often make you lose faith. It seems like days are spent climbing out of the "valley of the shadow of death" instead of lying down "in green pastures." (Psalm 23). It can be challenging to stay with Jesus when you feel anxious, abandoned, or alarmed. (John 15).
Some days, it can feel like every bucket is empty and there is nothing left to fill them with.
Sadly, many people believe that the state of our lives is determined by the circumstances we find ourselves in. We put a lot of time, effort, and energy into trying to change our situations.
The end result is that we feel blessed when things are going well and beat down when they are hard. Our hopes often lead to heartbreak. The Apostle Paul tells us that God will provide for all of our needs, whether they are financial, emotional, relational, positional, social, or physical. "According to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus," he says. A lot of the time, this kind of "trust" means we have to learn, love, and even lose.
We must learn to be content.
You can't just feel contentment; you have to ask God to come in and let His Spirit teach you. Being content doesn't mean giving up all of our responsibilities; it means resting in His resources. It's being content no matter what. Paul said, " I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12).
We must lovingly express confidence.
God's love for us is always the same. One of the enemy's traps is getting us to judge how much God loves us based on how well we do. God loves because He is love. Our good deeds don't make Him love us more, and our bad deeds don't make Him love us less. Paul told the church in Rome, "But God commendeth [showed] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). He also said, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
We must lose complete control.
This is the tough part: giving up control. We need to stop expecting things to go our way and let God do what He wants. He rules over every part of our lives and wants the best for us. He cares. He loves. He knows. The wisdom of Solomon radiates as we read the familiar words of Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5–6).
It was Charles H. Spurgeon (19th-century British preacher) who wrote in the devotional Morning and Evening that we read these words: "What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruise and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care, too? Can you trust Him for your soul and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens. He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! Have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God."
He will give abundantly, He will fill completely, and you will also live through the famine.
Come on, you can do this . . .
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19
Some days, it's challenging to trust God. There are too many things to do. The work is too hard. Too many things are going on. Money is too tight. There are too many needs. The loss is too big. Relationships are too messed up. Days are too unpredictable.
Fear, failure, and frazzledness can often make you lose faith. It seems like days are spent climbing out of the "valley of the shadow of death" instead of lying down "in green pastures." (Psalm 23). It can be challenging to stay with Jesus when you feel anxious, abandoned, or alarmed. (John 15).
Some days, it can feel like every bucket is empty and there is nothing left to fill them with.
Sadly, many people believe that the state of our lives is determined by the circumstances we find ourselves in. We put a lot of time, effort, and energy into trying to change our situations.
The end result is that we feel blessed when things are going well and beat down when they are hard. Our hopes often lead to heartbreak. The Apostle Paul tells us that God will provide for all of our needs, whether they are financial, emotional, relational, positional, social, or physical. "According to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus," he says. A lot of the time, this kind of "trust" means we have to learn, love, and even lose.
We must learn to be content.
You can't just feel contentment; you have to ask God to come in and let His Spirit teach you. Being content doesn't mean giving up all of our responsibilities; it means resting in His resources. It's being content no matter what. Paul said, " I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12).
We must lovingly express confidence.
God's love for us is always the same. One of the enemy's traps is getting us to judge how much God loves us based on how well we do. God loves because He is love. Our good deeds don't make Him love us more, and our bad deeds don't make Him love us less. Paul told the church in Rome, "But God commendeth [showed] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). He also said, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
We must lose complete control.
This is the tough part: giving up control. We need to stop expecting things to go our way and let God do what He wants. He rules over every part of our lives and wants the best for us. He cares. He loves. He knows. The wisdom of Solomon radiates as we read the familiar words of Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5–6).
It was Charles H. Spurgeon (19th-century British preacher) who wrote in the devotional Morning and Evening that we read these words: "What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruise and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care, too? Can you trust Him for your soul and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens. He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! Have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God."
He will give abundantly, He will fill completely, and you will also live through the famine.
Come on, you can do this . . .
Current Events . . .
Daily news feed of items concerning the Christian community. Pray as you read these articles, and then trust for God's will in each story.
