Uninvited - Three Questions

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." ~ C.S. Lewis

Are you wondering how painful the best will be? Is there pain from your past that makes you concerned for the future? Do you have broken boards?

"Broken boards can't provide stability"

How many broken boards do we have in our lives? I could name a few in mine. Previous relationships, complicated relationships, rejection, patience. All these and more are the broken boards that we hope will sometime provide stability. If we continue to stand on these broken boards we will do nothing but fall into our fears. Our fears or rejection, being abandoned, losing our identities...feeling alone.

"The beliefs we hold should hold us up even when life feels like it's falling apart."

"We can't keep our old broken beliefs, nail a little Jesus truth to the side, and expect stability. I knew I had to stop assessing God's goodness by how my life felt at any given time. Feelings are broken boards. Only truth is solid, unchanging, and stable through and through." How many times when things don't go our way, or when we allow our rejections rule do we think that God is not faithful? How many times do we judge how things are going in our lives and decide that's when God is faithful and living up to His promises?

I know too many times for me. It's so easy when things are going our way to see God at work and praise Him for all the good things happening. We look at rejections and hurt as our mistakes and God's goodness slipping away. We can tend to think we did something wrong.

Three questions we need to remember, and I encourage you to write them down as a reminder:

1. Is God good?

2. Is God good to me?

3. Do I trust God to be God?

Wrestle well with these questions using truth, and you will start to sense those new, more stable boards holding you up.

Is God good? Easy question right? How can a good God allow all the craziness, hurt and tragedy? It's a question that we can get from those around us when they are struggling but they do not know God. How would you answer that to your friend? Now how would you answer this question for your own life? It's obvious from the beginning of time. In Genesis 1:31, 'God say all that he had made, and it was very good.' It was VERY GOOD.

God doesn't make mistakes. He shows us love through all our doubts and fears. When Adam & Eve first sinned, it broke God's design. No way did sin affect the goodness of God. "God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good." I believe this about God...do you?

Is God good to me? Based on my life experiences sometimes I wondered that. If God was good to me, why would I hurt. Why would I have feelings of loneliness? Why would I feel rejected? I love the quote from C.S. Lewis that was at the beginning. We do not doubt that God does the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will be. We have a tendency to think that if things are going well and God is good to us, what are we going to have to give up. We are always looking ahead and thinking of all the bad things that could happen.

I'm a very organized person and when I'm in a situation, I'm usually 10 steps ahead assessing all the outcomes so I can avoid the ones that will hurt the most. The ones that I may not get over. Believe me it's one thing I'd love to change. I end up missing out of the awesome moments presently because I'm already at the finish line while everyone else is crossing the start line. We need to keep our minds focused on what the Holy Spirit whispers, not what the flesh screams.

Do I trust God to Be God? Yep the question is asked. Do I trust God to be God? "The mind feasts on what it focuses on. What consumes my thinking will be the making or the breaking of my identity. Will I trust that God sees and knows things I don't? Will I trust Him when I don't understand? When circumstances are hard? When people betray or reject me? When my heart gets broken? Will I trust Him to the point where I fully turn the control of my life and those I love over to Him?" All we have to do is trust.

"You will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

Trust Him. What the mind focuses on, it feasts on. Trust Him...focus on Him. He loves us and wants goodness for us more than we can ever imagine. "The most beautiful love story every written is the one you were made to live with God."

*Quotes in pink - Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst