Trusting God in All Things?

naomanos said:
Not sure what good reason there is for not being a trusting person, or why so many Christians have this awesome relationship with Jesus and I have zilch.

None of it makes sense, even when I crave to trust and have this awesome relationship with Jesus, but it never happens and it's not a lack of trying on my part.

That is why I am starting to think that God never chose me to be a Christian.
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Many's the time I could have written that!

I don't hold the answers or the keys any more than you do.

You, like me may even go down the routes of pondering whether there is pre destination and that neither of us were picked.

I know that sort of feeling and hate it.

Still, tell me, when you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, what else is there?

Try, like at times I make a mess of trying to do. Stick through it. If it's any consolation, I keep trying (with historical periods of turning away).
 
Thanks for that one, I'll try to give it some thought.

A couple of perhaps OT comments about sheepdogs (border collie) though.

We had one as a pet from Welsh sheep farming stock. Her name was Meg. The farm gave her away, I think as she turned out brown and white rather than black and white but she was sheepdog thorough and through.

"In their blood": Yes. Even if you played stick with Meg, she would want to round it up. She'd also want to round up wheelbarrows, hens - potentially (and I've known a couple with a bad habit with car wheels) anything that moves.

"Obedient": They are very head strong. Yes, I've seen sheepdog trials and the dogs are amazing but I think they need a very firm hand.
 
I sure hear a lot of the Apostle Thomas in your words, naomanos. Even HE, after walking around with Jesus and getting to know him "one on one" STILL needed to put his hands in Jesus' side and in the nail prints in His hands and feet, to be convinced.

I'm gonna pray that God grants you an encounter with Him that will rattle your world!! Watch carefully.........God answers prayer!! Tighten your belt, because when God gets involved, Mighty things happen. Even to YOU, naomanos!!

I've been where you are.............stop trying............give up..........there's nothing YOU can do to make it happen. Relax and enjoy the ride my friend......God does His best work, with those who have surrendered and quit trying.

-Soupy
 
Steve Campbell said:
God does His best work, with those who have surrendered and quit trying.
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Could you please expand on that one. The most common "give in" type of thought I get is "give in and pray to the devil, then life will be great". Make no mistake that I reject this and only see destruction (even if a "good time" was had on the way - well no a life of lies wouldn't work for me anyway - it's bad enough with the mistakes I make...) as the result.

What I'm trying to work out is how one might "give in" to God but at the same time resist the lies of Satan. It seems to me that I have to (however feebly) put up some opposition to the evil one but maybe I've got things wrong?
 
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There are examples in Scripture.........let's talk about Paul as an extreme case. Now THERE'S a guy who was not only "not a believer," but was set on a path of destruction for all Christians. He was actively involved in having them tortured and killed for their beliefs.

Then God...........two words that come up in Scripture in various ways, ............."then God" intervened. Not when Paul was on his knees in prayer; not when Paul was remorseful and trying to FIND God.......but rather, when Paul ("Saul" at the time) was thoroughly and completely "anti" anything that supported the idea that Jesus was who He said He was.

If a guy like "Paul" could be turned completely around, when he was not supporting the Truth, so can I. So can YOU. It's not about how much we "try" to find Him. It's about believing that He is in love with you (His creation) and wants to live within you.

I remember years ago asking my father (who is a Pastor), "Dad, how do I know that God wants "me" to be His?" His response, "Son, the mere fact that you are asking that question, shows that God is working on your heart, calling you to Himself."

The fact that you are agonizing over this (apparently) should be enough to say to you that God is actively calling out to you. Yours is but to open the door of your heart, and let Him come in (Rev. 3:18). He won't force His way into your life. He only promises to do a miraculous work in your life, if you will let Him.

when Paul was confronted with God ("Saul, why are you persecuting me?") Paul COULD have rejected Him. But he did not (thankfully).

Another aspect to this is that God is fully in Control of all things, knows all things, and is not surprised by anything we do. He knows who WILL turn willingly to Him, and those who won't.
Since you know you are dealing with this issue of "is God really gonna do a work in me or not" (I've been there), you should recognize that as the beginning of your own encounter with Him.
It's is not about "if" but "when." That, my friend, is up to YOU.

You don't have to "work" your way to him; you don't have to change your clothes, your hair, your habits, your behavior. As a fella once asked, "do you have to get cleaned up to take a bath?!"
Of course not.

I could go further, but I'll shut my mouth for now.......

-Soupy
 
Steve Campbell said:
There are examples in Scripture.........let's talk about Paul as an extreme case. Now THERE'S a guy who was not only "not a believer," but was set on a path of destruction for all Christians. He was actively involved in having them tortured and killed for their beliefs.

Then God...........two words that come up in Scripture in various ways, ............."then God" intervened. Not when Paul was on his knees in prayer; not when Paul was remorseful and trying to FIND God.......but rather, when Paul ("Saul" at the time) was thoroughly and completely "anti" anything that supported the idea that Jesus was who He said He was.

If a guy like "Paul" could be turned completely around, when he was not supporting the Truth, so can I. So can YOU. It's not about how much we "try" to find Him. It's about believing that He is in love with you (His creation) and wants to live within you.

I remember years ago asking my father (who is a Pastor), "Dad, how do I know that God wants "me" to be His?" His response, "Son, the mere fact that you are asking that question, shows that God is working on your heart, calling you to Himself."

The fact that you are agonizing over this (apparently) should be enough to say to you that God is actively calling out to you. Yours is but to open the door of your heart, and let Him come in (Rev. 3:18). He won't force His way into your life. He only promises to do a miraculous work in your life, if you will let Him.

when Paul was confronted with God ("Saul, why are you persecuting me?") Paul COULD have rejected Him. But he did not (thankfully).

Another aspect to this is that God is fully in Control of all things, knows all things, and is not surprised by anything we do. He knows who WILL turn willingly to Him, and those who won't.
Since you know you are dealing with this issue of "is God really gonna do a work in me or not" (I've been there), you should recognize that as the beginning of your own encounter with Him.
It's is not about "if" but "when." That, my friend, is up to YOU.

You don't have to "work" your way to him; you don't have to change your clothes, your hair, your habits, your behavior. As a fella once asked, "do you have to get cleaned up to take a bath?!"
Of course not.

I could go further, but I'll shut my mouth for now.......

-Soupy
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Please, keep going. I would like to hear more.

Maybe, my issue is that I do not know how to fully surrender. I know that I have tried to fully surrender, but not knowing how to do that causes me issues.

One of my other issues is that people can tell me how to do something till the cows come home. I learn by watching and having something shown to me that I can see (like Thomas I guess). It is how I learn though.
 
Naomanos: That's the whole point; YOU don't have to do ANYTHING to get God's attention. He's already moving in you (as evidenced by your own searching) and doesn't need your help to transform your heart and life. He reminded Job of that (and Jonah) when He said, "where were YOU, when I was creating the universe!" (loosely translated).

He WILL achieve in your life, whatever He desires. All you have to "do" is be willing. That isn't much to ask now is it?! We are a flash in the pan in the scope of God's plan. That's not to say that we are insignificant; nor to offer any form of depressing thought. That's simply stating the truth of it.

One of the passages of Scripture that I avoided reading for a LONG time, were the genealogies (Matthew Chapter One, for example). The intent of the passage was to show the lineage as God had laid it out over time, but it said something else to me.......it said, "Steve, nobody ever said that God would require you to do great things for Him. Some he does, but some are simply to be "begettors." (That "being a doorkeeper passage fits here)." I was spending so much time trying to figure out what enormous and significant thing that God wanted from me, that I was missing that perhaps I was simply to be part of the wheel, and that that should be "ok" with me.

Nobody is asking you to be the next Billy Graham..........nobody is placing hopes in you that demand too much. They only want for you that you give "place" to God in your life. To be a "willing" creation of His, trusting that in HIS time, HE will accomplish in you what HE wants.

Relax........."be still and know" (the Scripture says) "that I am God."

Isaiah 42 was a reminder one day to me, in an explosion that could have taken my life, that His Control of things was sure, and He was and is, in charge. "I have called you by name; you are mine!" What an assurance!! I could have confidence that He was watching; that He was there; that nothing would come into my life that He did not allow.

I didn't HAVE to do anything.........He did it all!!

-Soupy
 
Steve Campbell said:
Naomanos: That's the whole point; YOU don't have to do ANYTHING to get God's attention. He's already moving in you (as evidenced by your own searching) and doesn't need your help to transform your heart and life. He reminded Job of that (and Jonah) when He said, "where were YOU, when I was creating the universe!" (loosely translated).

He WILL achieve in your life, whatever He desires. All you have to "do" is be willing. That isn't much to ask now is it?! We are a flash in the pan in the scope of God's plan. That's not to say that we are insignificant; nor to offer any form of depressing thought. That's simply stating the truth of it.

One of the passages of Scripture that I avoided reading for a LONG time, were the genealogies (Matthew Chapter One, for example). The intent of the passage was to show the lineage as God had laid it out over time, but it said something else to me.......it said, "Steve, nobody ever said that God would require you to do great things for Him. Some he does, but some are simply to be "begettors." (That "being a doorkeeper passage fits here)." I was spending so much time trying to figure out what enormous and significant thing that God wanted from me, that I was missing that perhaps I was simply to be part of the wheel, and that that should be "ok" with me.

Nobody is asking you to be the next Billy Graham..........nobody is placing hopes in you that demand too much. They only want for you that you give "place" to God in your life. To be a "willing" creation of His, trusting that in HIS time, HE will accomplish in you what HE wants.

Relax........."be still and know" (the Scripture says) "that I am God."

Isaiah 42 was a reminder one day to me, in an explosion that could have taken my life, that His Control of things was sure, and He was and is, in charge. "I have called you by name; you are mine!" What an assurance!! I could have confidence that He was watching; that He was there; that nothing would come into my life that He did not allow.

I didn't HAVE to do anything.........He did it all!!

-Soupy
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I wish the no hopes that demand statement were true.

My wife places many hopes that demand too much of me on a consistent basis. She has this idea of who she wants me to be and I am consistently letting her down.
 
Aint that a human one, Naomanos?

Can't really talk about it as the only real (physical) relationship I had was in my late 30s and with someone who had a boyfriend in prison (yes, I've wound up in places you don't want to go)

As a mere observer, I'd say the best relationships I've seen are rare ones where both parties have developed a friendship. Any chance of that?
 
Oh, I see..........

Let's look at the statement in a different way then. There ARE going to be folks around you that will wish for you to accomplish certain things; grow in certain ways; find balance points that keep you on a path towards your own development in positive ways.

There are even folks who would love to see you fail (not just Satan, but jealous co-workers, impatient wives, siblings or friends, etc).

What I was saying was, that everyone understands (those of reasonable mind, that is) the struggle that life can bring, because they all go thru it. The ones who are thinking with the mind of Christ as their guide, who have seen the evidence in their own lives that God does do (in fact) what He says, will be interested in seeing you grow "in the knowledge" of Him, and will have first hand experience in the frustration of waiting on God.

Although it may be true that this life of ours is but a blip in time, in comparison to the whole span of time that God has allowed and will allow, for us at the moment, it can seem like an eternity, to wait on Him. It CAN frustrate; it CAN make us angry and resentful and even doubt that God is even there. But that doesn't change the Truth that He IS there, and DOES care, and HAS a plan for each of us.

So I draw you back then, to my other statements that speak of waiting patiently for God; remaining open to whatever He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and giving YOURSELF permission to be at peace while you wait.

Sure, "reading the Word" and "Praying" are the fundamentals of preparing yourself for that, and I would encourage those things.

But I WOULDN'T tell you to be beating yourself up with physical sticks, or mentally living in a world of disdain or anger. We prepare our hearts as much as we can, but rely on HIM to do the rest of His Mighty Work, in SPITE of ourselves.

I can attest to the struggle in my own life, wasting countless days and weeks, months and even years, in self-criticism and loathing of who "I" was. For sure, a great waste of time. Not because God wasn't there, but because I was spending so much time in diagnostic mode, that I wasn't allowing time for God's use of me.

If I am constantly running (to put a computer analogy to this) Defrag, I'm not allowing the User (God) to get anything done!!

"Really," you ask? We can stop God? Sure!! If we don't allow Him to do His Mighty Work in us, He won't force Himself on us. He would not be a truly "Loving and Compassionate Father" if He did that. It would be contrary to His Nature, and make Him a liar.

-Soupy
 
Abdicate said:
If you want practical answers, I love Jim Richards. He has MANY videos on YouTube, and this is #1 of 5... look for the next part to the right when this is done. You'll like him.

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Wow! I've finally found someone who knows and appreciates Jim Richards! A wonderfully anointed man of God who has also been blessed with an incredible intellect.
 
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