Trust in God

A dilemma perhaps as old as, “why did the chicken cross the road?”, is the struggle people have to believe God exists. For a variety of reasons, some have struggled for understanding about how believers can claim God is powerful enough to create the world, yet lacks the power to manage His creation. How can God be all loving, yet allow so such pain and suffering to affect humans? Many have said this is perhaps the largest stumbling block keeping them from completely trusting God – His leading doesn’t seem right or fair. Yet, strange as it may seem, the pain and struggles in our lives may be the best sign that He truly is good and that through our struggles and pain we realize He loves us dearly. James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – Jas 1:2-4 (ESV). Some will say, “this is sometimes not very pleasant.” They might go on to day, “if God is powerful enough to create the world, why is He powerless to prevent bad things from happening to His creation?”, or, “If He created the world and allowed evil to come in, He should be able to correct it, everywhere, why doesn’t He?” People who seek to describe God have overlooked several key elements of reality. First, humans are incapable of adequately describing God. He is beyond our understanding, that makes Him a God to be respected and praised. God refused to provide a name by which He could be described to Moses. Second, humans need to understand, we are servant creatures. Bluntly, this means humans don’t fully understand the best results which need to take place. As humans, we must accept our place in reality, we can never be as intelligent or powerful as God. We need to follow His instructions. Third, we must understand that God knows everything and cannot be manipulated. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) illustrates this, effectively. Although scripture says they tried to lie to the Holy Spirit, this essentially means they tried to lie to God. Nothing can be hidden from God. Fourth, while this sounds rather harsh, we must remember that God loved us so much Jesus came to provide a sacrifice we could never offer. He was the complete solution people fail to recognize. When we accept this sacrifice, we are cleansed from all sin and God, Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit begins to reside within us. At this point we begin a unique individual spiritual journey toward complete sanctification, or dedication to Him. As we begin this journey, it is common to ask, “How can I recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice when He speaks to me?”; “How can I avoid being paralyzed by uncertainty and doubt about advice and direction from others?” God uses the Holy Spirit and other Christians to share His advice and encouragement. So, “How can I discern the true message from God or the Holy Spirit?” As Christians, we must learn that along our spiritual journey, we must distinguish truth from false diversions. The way to do this is to compare whatever we encounter with Scripture. The same Holy Spirit who supplied the Scriptures over the millennia and empowered Jesus to demonstrate actions God desires, will help us to realize that His guidance will never contradict Scripture. Jesus, Father, and the Holy Spirit never change, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” - Heb. 13:8 (ESV). If what we encounter directs us to ignore Scripture or remove it from the original context to fit our needs, we must accept this opportunity as an attempt to lead us astray. During our spiritual journey, we will be taught to learn and discern the Holy Spirit’s guidance by studying Scriptures, requesting the Spirit to help us via prayer, and attempting to begin doing what we understand should be done. If we will compare our desires to Scripture, He will help us discern the proper choices.