This message from "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers is very important for mainting our joy and confidence in times of trial!
The Theology of Resting in God
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? —Matthew 8:26
When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But
our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying
confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in
any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up
to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers
of those people who do not even know God. We come to our wits’ end, showing
that we don’t have even the slightest amount of confidence in Him or in His
sovereign control of the world. To us He seems to be asleep, and we can see
nothing but giant, breaking waves on the sea ahead of us.
“…O you of little faith!” What a stinging pain must have
shot through the disciples as they surely thought to themselves, “We missed the
mark again!” And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize
that we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by
remaining absolutely confident in Him, in spite of what we were facing.
There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our
lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises
that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship
God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the
point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.
We have been talking quite a lot about sanctification, but
what will be the result in our lives? It will be expressed in our lives as a
peaceful resting in God, which means a total oneness with Him. And this oneness
will make us not only blameless in His sight, but also a profound joy to Him.
AMEN! Maintaining our confidence in God and His Word will take a diligent commitment to spend time in the presence of BOTH! Praise and Worship in the face of tests and trials will help to keep our soul renewed to the TRUTH and to confidence IN HIM! Here is Hillsong with "In Control":Shalom in Him!
