Reflection 19^th October 2023

Tammy Rotzoll concludes her comments on

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HOW TO TRUST GOD WHEN EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART

The closer you grow to God, the easier it will become.

"Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong."

Ephesians 3:17 NLT

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

God doesn't expect us to thank Him FOR the struggles we go through, but rather He wants us to thank Him IN the difficult times.

When you give thanks to God in the hard times, it helps you look for the blessings in the midst of them.

Thankfulness takes the focus off your challenges, by putting the focus on the blessings He's providing along the way.
You begin to see that although your struggles are hard, there's still a lot to be thankful for.

You see, when you start thanking Him for all the amazing blessings He's given you, your perspective begins to change.

And soon you'll discover that you're trusting God, even in the difficult times.

The more time you spend thanking Him rather than always asking of Him, the more your troubles begin to pale in comparison to the many blessings He gives you each and every day.

This was (and sometimes still is) the hardest part for me.

After all, it's when things are completely out of control that we hold on tighter, hoping to better manage our difficulties.

It's scary to think of handing our trials over to someone else, but who best to handle them than The One who created us; The One who knows us better than we know ourselves?

Society tells us how important it is to have control over everything in our life and offers countless books and articles on how we can best attain that.
And where do they tell us to begin?
With ourselves!

But that's not at all what God wants for us.
We're His responsibility and when the hard times come, He will guide us through - all we need to do is surrender to Him and His will.

Oh, this isn't easy. It's not a one-and-done.
It'll require you to surrender it daily (if not hourly) to God.

Again, we're building those spiritual reflexes by practicing and choosing to trust God in difficult times.

As you continue to lean into God and surrender control, you'll soon discover you aren't worrying so much.
You'll find that you're breathing easier and beginning to enjoy life again.

It's when you'll discover that it truly is possible to experience peace in the midst of the hardest times in your life.

I promise, by relinquishing control, you'll find a freedom you've never experienced before.
And let me tell you, it's absolutely glorious!

God never promised smooth sailing.

We have to let go of the notion that when we're following God, everything should be easy because it simply isn't true.

However, He has promised that He'll never leave us. He'll never let anything destroy us.

All He wants is for us to trust Him, and live our life with Him by our side.

When we learn to keep faith in God in the difficult times, it shows others His grace and mercy - and since our ultimate calling is to make Him known and bring Him glory, we can use our dark times, to point others to Him.

The great thing about hard times is that God doesn't want us to sit in them.
He'll use these troubled times to teach us something powerful, to bring us out the other side with strength and peace.

Joy is always found on the other side of brokenness, but I know it can feel impossible to reach that joy.

All I'm asking of you today is to just take that first step.
Look up and say hello to God, tell Him how you're feeling.

When you earnestly seek Him, He will always show up for you.

It takes practice to build those spiritual reflexes.
It means that every time you begin to worry or feel lost, you acknowledge that God is still with you.

So for a quick recap, to get you on the path of trusting God in the difficult times...

Spend time suiting up with His Mighty Armour first thing in the morning.

Practice talking to Him throughout your day.
Thank Him for all He has and continues to bless you with.
Surrender your fears and worries to Him, and be willing to learn something in your trials.

Remember, God isn't up there wringing His hands, trying to figure out how it's going to play out.
He has it all under control.

It won't take long and those spiritual reflexes will be stronger.
You'll learn to go to Him automatically.

And you'll soon realise that He's the One you went to first.
He's The One you learned to put your complete trust in.

Before you know it, you'll learn how to trust God in difficult times.
You'll learn the power of trusting God in all circumstances.
And most importantly, you'll learn to find peace right in the middle of your mess.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by the blog.
I'm so grateful to have you here.

Tammy Rotzoll
is the founder and owner of Footprints of Inspiration and podcast host at A Faithful God Podcast (which can be found on your favorite podcast player).
She lives in Virginia with her husband and together they're learning how to navigate their fun, new adventure as empty nesters.
Join Tammy and the FOI community and discover the freedom that comes from saying, "Heck yeah, God! I'm all in!"