Trust God at All Times
Can I really trust God to be a refuge? There have been times of intense hurt and pain in my life. Sometimes the pain was brought on as a consequence of my own selfishness and sin. But other times, hurt is brought on by others.
I would find, during the most intense times of pain, during those very dark, very alone places, I would cry out to God, begging Him to take it away. Take away the pain and the hurt.
Change my circumstances.
I couldn’t see beyond the immediate ache to what God might want to do in my life through that pain and hurt. Trusting Him became based on what He would do for me. If He did as I begged Him to do, I could trust Him. If He didn’t immediately ease the pain or change the circumstance, well then maybe He wasn’t as trustworthy as I thought.
God Can Use the Hurt
In the midst of the pain, it didn’t occur to me that He could use this hurt, this very thing I begged him to remove, as a tool to accomplish His will in my life.
It was during these times that I took this verse to heart. I would spend hours pouring out my heart to Christ. And in the midst of the tears…the anger…the questions of why…He would pull me into His embrace, wrap His arms around me, and whisper to my heart that He was loving me through the pain. The crisis is sacred.
I Needed My Trustworthy God
It wasn’t that my circumstances needed to change. It was that I needed God in my circumstances.
It was as if He were saying, “My child, I love you. You can trust Me. And because you are My child, everything that touches your life filters first through Me and My immense love for you. You CAN trust Me.”
It was through His gentle nudging that I realized I was viewing my circumstances through my limited sight. I wasn’t viewing them in light of eternity, with His eyes and with His heart.
Can I Trust God to Be a Refuge?
How drastically would it change how we view our circumstances if we could just view them in light of who God truly is? He wants us to simply trust Him.
Trust that He is good…He is just…He is righteous…He is holy…He is truth.
Oh, how our view would change if we could see that all of our pain…our heartache…our hurt is being filtered through the goodness and the faithfulness and the love of God! And He is using all of those things to make us look more like His Son…if we simply allow Him.
If we knew the heart of God for our circumstance, how would it change how we viewed it? But do we truly desire to know His heart?
It’s not just about pouring our hearts out to Him. However, it is about asking God to give us HIS perspective. Asking Him to change our perspective so that it is in line with HIS heart. So that we truly know His heart.
The Privilege of Finding Refuge
Instead of just seeking relief from the pain…from the circumstances…we have been given the privilege, as His children, to seek refuge in Christ.
And He WILL BE our refuge, our place of shelter, our protection, our safe place.
Therefore, we can fall apart in His arms. We can pour out our hearts to Him. And we can give Him all the dark, ugly places. Cry out to Him from our sin or our hurt or our sadness or our anger or our confusion or our darkness. He WILL be our refuge, and He CAN change our perspective.
I Can Trust God to Be My Refuge
His will is for us to look more like His Son. He is invested in this. He is so committed to making us into His image that He will meet us where we are, offer us a change in perspective, and give us HIS heart for our circumstances.
There are still times when I try to change circumstances that are out of my control. Instead, I should be seeking God and serving Him in the midst of them. But I know He’s already there in those places, waiting for me to come to Him, ready to be my refuge, and loving me through it all.
He may not always change what’s going on or take away the pain. But you can be sure, that He will meet us there. He will use those difficult times to make us look more like Him if we choose to see our circumstances as He does, with His heart.
Insight Journal
- Can I trust God to be my refuge?
This DesignVerse and blog post were created by Jennifer Martin.
I am a beloved child of God whose desire is to consistently seek Christ and find Him relevant to every area of my life. I am a mother of two great kids with a passion to pour Truth into them every chance I get. As part of the DDCommunity Ministry Team, my heart is to point others to Christ, believing He is the only solution to our every need.
Graciously forgiven. Dearly loved. Divinely favored. Eternally grateful.
You might be interested in some of our other posts about trusting God.
The featured card was created by Melanie Lewis, and inspired by Darlene Adams.
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