More of what God is teaching me

Well here goes another post about what God is teaching me. I think I write these more for my sake than anyone else's because I need the reminders and the encouragement for my heart as I write them.

We had a guest speaker at our church this past Sunday, and he preached through Psalm 33 on how to conquer fear. He said a couple of things that just humbled me and made me see where my faith is lacking. He made the statement that for many people, our limited knowledge produces fear; but knowing that God has complete knowledge should calm those fears. He said, "You only know some things, and faith starts where your knowledge stops." So much of my anxiety or stress comes from my lack of knowledge. I don't know what the future will look like, if my family will ever grow, what the Lord has in store for me, and that leads me to be anxious and to fear the unknown. I love the statement he made when he said that faith starts where knowledge stops. It's so true. I just need to have faith in God's sovereignty and find comfort in the fact that He already knows the outcome. I don't need to know the answers. It is enough that God knows. The last verse of Psalm 33 says, "Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you." The Psalmist is asking for blessing to the same measure of his trusting in Him. Wow, what a prayer! If God's love was dependent upon the measure of how much I trusted Him, I would be a lost cause.

Another thing I can't get off my mind is the sermon by Voddie Baucham http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=525141455405. (Thank you, Ally, for sending this to me). I have listened to this sermon twice in the last week and have cried multiple times both times I have listened to it. I plan to listen to it again this week. I am not a crier usually when I listen to sermons, but this one just so encourages/convicts my heart that I can't help but cry. It was one of those sermons that I felt like could have been written for me specifically in this moment of life.

I've also been reminding myself about a statement I read in Psalm 145 about the Lord being "kind in all his works" and just applying that truth to trials.

I read in 2 Chronicles 20 about the Israelites being worried about a great horde of people coming against them and that they didn't know what to do, so they fixed their eyes on God. The Lord told them to not be afraid or dismayed by the great horde because the battle was not theirs, but God's. He told them they did not need to fight this battle and that all they needed to do was stand firm, hold their position, and see the salvation of the Lord on their behalf. This passage again brought me to tears as I was telling Matt about it. It was just such a good reminder for me to fix my eyes on God and to be still. I always feel like I need to be doing something and really all I need to be doing is trusting God.

Well, I think I officially win the award for the most posts that are all over the place. Hopefully you were able to follow along. Sometimes it's so hard to communicate what God is teaching me.