Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Learning To Think Like God Thinks

There is enormous positive power in adversity, but do we live like we believe that is true? 

God will use any negative circumstance to refine our spiritual mind, prove His merciful power and teach us to further trust Him.

Problems always loom large. When we are sunk down in the middle of a challenging situation, these circumstances are all that we can see. God is much greater than our difficulty, but our view of Him seems cut off. We tend to have greater faith in our problems than we do in God. It's a matter of faith. A pile of problems are on one side of the scale; Heaven's glory, the other. If the problem-side of the scale seems heavy, then focus your faith on the glory-side.

Our focus creates our feeling.

It's not whether God is loving versus sovereign, it's that we humans have a very limited view of what is good and bad. We equate what is good with what is convenient and immediately beneficial to us, and "bad" is what is disadvantageous and injurious to us. What if God views only what is done for His glory as good, and whatever is NOT done for His glory as bad? Looking at it this way, the events in our lives then are completely inconsequential. What is truly good or truly bad in God's sight has absolutely nothing to do with us FEELING good or bad about any given circumstance. God rules our lives, not our our emotions. 

We need to filter our feelings through God's promises, not our perceptions.

When our interpretations change, our emotions change.

We, with our limited vision and perspective, only come to the realization after the fact. But we are called to live by faith, not by sight. 

Can we believe that Jesus' horrific death on the cross was God's SPECIFIC plan, and yet refuse to believe that all the tragic events since then somehow weren't? Christ's death was the ULTIMATE tragedy! How could God see anything as being worse ~ or even anywhere close to as bad ~ as having to sacrifice His own Son to reconcile sinners to Himself? SINNERS! And yet Christ's death, as physically and spiritually horrifying as it was, was ultimately a thing of unimaginable, incomprehensible beauty. ✞ ✞ ✞ 

So how can we see our earthly sorrows as being APART from God's specific plan if the worst thing that ever happened wasn't?

Faith is all about trusting God when you don't understand.

 I AM weak. Weakness is natural to human life. We all become tired, grow weary, feel weak at some points in our lives (or several times each day!) Weakness remains a part of this flesh we inhabit. Strength ~ more than just the physical meaning ~ is a characteristic of God. God uses whatever we have and whatever we are, for His good purposes. But, admitting our weakness reveals vulnerability. Vulnerable to needing Him. And I ( maybe others, too) forget we always need Him.

God promises us the strength we need (not necessarily the same as what we think we want) to live out His call for our lives. Our weakness given to Him with trust, uncovers grace-filled love. 

He is a God of possibility, not negativity. 

Blessings,
Dalinda


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