IN THE BEGINNING...
God designed and created good.
At the end of each creation day, He declared, "It is good!". The circumstances that beat us up and try to destroy us are not part of God's initial design; they occurred as a result of free will, which led to the choice of sin. James 1:13 states, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."
Our imperfect world can be overwhelming. Too often, we are spread thin and left rundown. Many of us have challenges that threaten our health, finances, mental well-being, and those we love. At some point in our lives, we have all been treated unfairly by a person or circumstance. Some of us have battled experiences so painful, so unacceptable that the word injustice only begins the narration. Even if we have been victims or victimized, we can have the strength and courage not to embrace a victim's mentality. God has always cared about the marginalized. He sought justice for the fatherless, the widows, and the foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). He cares about your pain and those things that affect you. God desires to protect those who trust Him, "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in Him (Nahum 1:7 ESV)."
For a short time, sin and satan are holding onto this world (John 14:30). But, there will be a time when Jesus will complete His final steps, the world will be healed, and faithful believers have the opportunity for eternal life (John 3:16, 1 John 5:11, Philippians 1:6, Revelation 21:3-4 to name a few...). In the meantime, God blesses us by using challenges and trials to transform us (James 1:2-4). In these challenges, we can be shaped for God's Glory. He calls us to rest and grow in Him (Matthew 11:28, Colossians 2:6-7). He wants us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27); this love includes trusting and relying on Him.
God blesses us by making Himself available for us - we can personally get to know Him and be built up when we lean on His strength, immerse in His Holy Word, pray, and find the blessings of encouragement from fellow believers. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 makes it clear we need to encourage and build each other up. Isaiah 40:28-31 illustrates how we gain strength from God, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grows weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
In this space, we will work to encourage and Biblically support the statements that appeared on this page, including:
*God's goodness and blessings
*What being faithful means in terms of thoughts, words, and action
*Why faith doesn't protect us from challenges, but how it can fill us with strength.
*Why bad things are not God's original intent, but how they can be used to bless and correct us.
*How the redeeming blood of Jesus can help us flourish.
*What it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
*How our stories are woven into God's story.
This community is designed to encourage, grow, and support one another. Let us battle evil with kindness. We can focus on seeing the beauty and blessings that God provides, even when there is pain. We want to encourage each other to dig deeper into God's word, to acknowledge God as awesome and almighty, to be thankful for all parts of our lives, to pray for ourselves, to pray for those in our lives, to pray for one another and our world while committing our lives to God's plans for us.
Jesus made it clear that there will be dark storms. Trusting God does not promise us a perfect or comfortable life (John 16:33, 1 Peter 4:12). In fact, many people report as their faith grows, satan tries to break them. Paul faced this challenge; he said that a messenger of satan tormented him, but he saw it as a blessing to keep him from being conceited because he had received powerful revelations (2 Corinthians 12:7).
God provides a blueprint for living. When Paul pled to have his burden lifted, the response was breathtaking, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). God blesses us in that we do not need to be strong, we only need to trust in Him; He provides exactly what we need to meet His purpose.
God wants us to acknowledge our brokenness so that He can shape us. When things are messy and we are weak, we can faithfully focus on our eternal hope while letting God helps us humbly work towards love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in this current moment (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV).
In Psalms 37:4, when we are called to delight in the LORD and He will give the desires of your heart, this isn't about obtaining riches; it is about wanting God to shape and rule your life. It is about the satisfaction that God provides a calm place in life's storms (Deuteronomy 31:6). There are many places where we are called to trust, rest, and have peace. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29 ESV). In His love, protection, forgiveness, and plans to grow us, God has blessed us beyond measure. We have done nothing to deserve these gifts, but God cares about each of us.
How immense is God's love? Imagine walking onto a beach and caring about each grain of sand in your bucket. Now, imagine caring for the sand around where you are sitting. What about caring for all the sand that you can see. It quickly sounds like an overwhelming task.
Even though there are so many of us, God manages to care about each of us. He sees how our stories can be shaped and molded for His glory and His plans if we faithfully follow Him. Romans 5:10-11 sums up the power of this blessing beautifully, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (ESV)."
