Trusting God in the Hard Times - Part 1: Sickness
Hey there! I hope all of you lovely people are having a great week. I am so ready for spring I can’t stand it! I’ve got flowers popping up all over the place and it makes me so happy! This past weekend I went to a Christian women’s retreat in Burnsville, NC to the most adorable place called High Pastures with my church and another church. We worshipped, ate, played games, ate, and then worshipped and ate some more. Imagine that a bunch of Baptists and food! It was such an eye opening weekend and I got to know several of the ladies there which made for a wonderful time.
I was asked to write about “Trusting God in the Hard Times” by a very sweet woman who has had her fair share of trials. I’ve been pouring over this; over how I can convey what I need to and cover all of the bases. Hard times can take on many forms and as I was sharing this with my dear friend Laura (SHOUT OUT LOUISE), she said, why don’t you make it a series! She’s brilliant, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. This first one is specifically going to go over trusting God in sickness.
Disclaimer: I don’t feel very qualified to write on this. I’m not sure how some people may take it. It may make you feel better, it may make you feel worse, I’m really unsure. SO, I’m doing like the title says and I’m going to trust that God will give me the right words to say to reach the right people.
TRUST: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something. (Confidence in someone or something is another description)
I don’t know about ya’ll, but one of my biggest anxiety triggers is thinking that something is wrong with me. Yes, you could say I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, my family already takes great delight in this! LOL If I have a headache, I’m like, is this the signs of a stroke or aneurism?? It snowballs from there and my mind takes me to the danger zone. What if this is the thing that takes me out?
Today we all know someone fighting sickness in some form or another. Whether it be cancer, complications from COVID, heart issues, the list could go on forever. In my life alone, I know several people, all relatively young, dealing with a cancer diagnosis. I’m sure if you take a look into your own life, you know quite a few too. How do we trust God with such a burden as this? Something that can be so devastating. Something that can potentially take you from this life. And let’s be real, it happens quite often.
Here are two scriptures that really stood out to me while going over this.
Psalm 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
Isaiah 26:3-4 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
This is the part that I start to feel uneasy. My last intention is to sound callous or take away from the hardship that you or anyone else is goind through. SO, I ask, please bear with me and hear my heart.
Trusting in God doesn’t always mean getting the outcome you want. Trusting God is knowing that He will care for you in His way, in His time, according to His will. This may mean that earthly healing isn’t part of the equation. That’s because that would be OUR will. Well friend, we don’t have the whole puzzle. Our lives are just tiny blips on a map, but we can rest in the fact that God knows the whole picture and He knows how it all pans out. Here’s that hard part again, the trust part. We have to trust He knows better than we do. We have to trust that our pain and suffereings aren’t in vain because there is a greater purpose behind it all.
We may never know the purpose. Maybe one day in heaven we will, but by then I don’t think we will care. Our main focus will be worshipping and serving our Savior.
If you’re anything like me, relinquishing that control to God is like pulling teeth. I fight and fight until I’m tore up from the floor up. Don’t let it get to that. Trust in Him. Know that His plan is the BEST plan. More than anything, know that He hears your every prayer, every whisper, every cry, and He loves you.
I love you too… Alexis