"Be Still and know that I am God"

I believe it was Rick Warren who said in a sermon, “When you worry, you replace God with worry.”

Why is it so hard to believe and trust in God to do what is best for us, that he has a better plan for us than we could come up with, and to give him control of our lives? Why do we always think that we know better, when there is a sovereign, infinite God watching over us who sees everything that we don’t – even the future? The psalms are full of verses about God giving us the delights of our heart, of blessing us, or taking care of those who love him.

I agree with what my friend Cynthe wrote on her blog, that “good” does not always mean comfortable, easy, joyful, etc. God is good, and he wants what is best for us, even if that doesn’t look like what we believe to be the best for us.

I have a situation in my life that hurts, it’s difficult and disappointing, yet I know that God is at work in it, and have seen him give me a tremendous amount of peace despite this situation, even as a result of the situation. Yet I still find myself struck with fear, almost daily, of what the future will bring, and of losing something that I so desperately want to cling to. Each day, I have to remember once again that God is in control, he has something better for me, and to surrender it back to him.

As a result, I have recently found myself living with fear and impatience for my future, the unknown, and unfulfilled desires. I know this time is good for me, I see God more, and yet I daily replace God and his wisdom with my own worry and the feeling that I know better. This quote from A.W. Tozer sums it up so well, “As long as we question the wisdom of any of God’s ways our faith is still tentative and uncertain. While we are able to understand, we are not quite believing.”

I understand about 22 hours out of the day God’s goodness and best plan for my life. But maybe 4 of those hours are actually spent believing. If we truly believed in God’s best for us, in his promises, why would we fear? Why would I worry and become anxious and ask him for help?

I believe my car is safely parked outside in the parking lot where I left it this morning, I have absolutely no fear that I will be able to drive home today as I normally do. I know my car is there, I will be able to walk to it when my day ends, and I don’t think about it during the day. (Well, except maybe when I hear a car alarm go off and wonder if someone is breaking into mine, but that’s very rare). Likewise, if I truly believe that God is good and that he loves me and that he is in control of my life, why do I so often worry about what He’s going to do? If I look at past experiences, when God lead my life in a way I didn’t want it to go, I shortly after realized it truly was best and had a much better outcome than if I had gotten what I wanted.

I know God has a good plan for me, yet I have my own perfect plan for my life, and I am anxious that the two will not align; all the while aware that if my plan fails, His will be better. Oh, it makes me so irritated with myself sometimes!
“Faith is simply the bringing of our minds into accord with the truth. It is adjusting our expectations to the promises of God in complete assurance that the God of the whole earth cannot lie.” – A.W. Tozer.

I suppose it is part of dying to ourselves daily, and of moment-to-moment surrender, to see God for who He is and to truly believe that He always does what is best, even when we can’t see it. He is, after all, the Creator of the Universe…perhaps he really does know just a bit more than we do. Praise God, for He is good!