Just trust- one day at a time

The love of God means our future is secure

It was 19th July 2002 – our 5th wedding anniversary and I felt like I was the happiest person on the planet!

We were on holiday by Lake Orta, one of the smaller Italian lakes. Caris, our 18 month old toddler was asleep in the cot, Rob was having a siesta and I was sitting out on the balcony-4 months pregnant with our second child.

The sunshine was making the lake shimmer below. Bright red geraniums were bursting out of window boxes all around. Birds were singing & life was beautiful!

I was reading, reflecting & scribbling in my journal and thanking God for all his blessings over the previous 5 years. I was thanking him for the baby, yet unborn.I just felt so blessed.

I was looking forward in anticipation to the next 5 years, wondering what lay ahead, asking God to guide us-as a couple and as a growing family.

Someone said that it’s just as well that we don’t know what lies around the corner-and it is! If someone, anyone, an angel-or God Himself had revealed that day what the future held for us in the next few years, I don’t think that I would have been able to get up off my chair- and I certainly wouldn’t have got on the plane home! For the next 3 years were the most difficult of my life so far.*

A few months later, I woke suddenly in the middle of the night, and heard God’s voice say, in a more real way than ever before, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you”

As Christians, we don’t need to fear- no matter what – for our Father God is with us, through it all.

Our future is not random or haphazard. Our loving Heavenly father who knows what is best for us has planned it. “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”(Jeremiah 29:11 –NIV)

Often we worry about what the future holds, but we shouldn’t. After all, today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday! We must just trust. ‘God is not asking you to have your whole future figured out. He is asking you to trust that He has your future planned’ (Stormie O’Martian)

Our future happens just one day at a time & He gives ‘Just enough light for the step I’m on!’(as the title of one of Stormie O’Martian’s books reminds us)

And no matter what, He is in control.

When I was a teenager, my Granda Murphy always wrote Proverbs 3:5&6 on my birthday cards, as a reminder that I should trust God, rather than my own instincts, and that I should seek Him first for guidance. The day I got my A level results, these verses ‘just happened’ to be my daily reading. I’d spent most of the day in tears as I hadn’t got the grades for Queen’s University Belfast. These verses reminded me to just trust. Looking back I realise that it was God’s plan for me to study in Dundee for five years!

And if I had gone to Queen’s, I wouldn’t have met Rob and many other great friends, and I would have missed out on all the craic of living away from home!

I like the way the Message paraphrases those verses:
‘Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track’
(Proverbs 3:5&6 The Message)

God is charting our path:
‘You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head’ (Psalm 139:3&5 – NLT)

He goes before us:
‘The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged’ Deuteronomy 31:8 – NIV)

And He goes with us:
‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord Your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you’
(Deuteronomy 31:6 – NIV)

Our destiny is in His hands. He knows the way that we take and He leads by quiet waters and green pastures, through mountains and valleys and the storms of life. As God of the universe, He holds our future. And as Abba, Father, He holds our hand.

Corrie ten Boom’s father told her:
“When Jesus takes your hand, he keeps you close. When Jesus keeps you close, He leads you through your whole life. When Jesus leads you through your whole life, He brings you safely home”

Step by step He’ll lead us all the way home.

‘For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide, even to the end.’ (Psalm 48:14 NIV)

‘You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny’ (Psalm 73:24 NLT)

His love surrounds & protects us.

‘But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him’ (Psalm 103:17 – NIV)

His love stretches from eternity past and never ends. And we can rest in God’s plans for us.

‘You have a place in God’s plan that no-one else can fill- and it’s running over with blessings only He can give’
(Day Spring Cards)

Blessings,

Ruth x