By His hand I'm safely led

I was just thinking about how amazing the Lord is. In all my years of life, I've seen Him do so many awesome things that I'm astounded at His mercy and grace to me. My life's story is a patchwork, from being born to a lost mother and backslidden father, to moving over 10 times, to attending seven different churches during my life. However, looking back on everything that's happened, I can see the incredible power of God preparing me for His service over the years.

I've come to a point where my experiences have caused me to have almost complete faith in the Lord. I think that's the biggest thing that God wants for us: absolute faith and trust in Him. Being called to the mission field, I have had to learn that He is in control, whether it be church problems, money issues or family conflagrations. I thank God for His preparation in my life in order to serve Him more effectively.

I'd also like to use this opportunity to encourage those that might be going through a hard time. God's awesome, all-powerful hand is in control of everything but your free will to trust Him. I've seen Christian people that seem to lose sight of the fact that God is in control. These people wind up moving all over the place and sometimes declaring bankruptcy over money issues instead of leaving it in the Lord's hands. If there's only one thing that people can learn from me, I hope that it would be true faith. Faith isn't hoping or closing your eyes and trusting blindly, though sometimes that's all we can accomplish in certain circumstances. Faith is knowing, without evidence or proof other than a relationship with Christ and His Word.

Many times we are derided as Christians for believing in God, the Bible, or Creation, by people who accuse us of blind faith. What they don't know is that in Christ, we don't have to have proof in front of our eyes: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We can KNOW, for a 100% certainty, that God is, and that He is in control of everything. So if you come to a point in your life where you can't see what to do, don't understand the circumstances, or can't seem to see God working in the situation, you can KNOW that He is simply working in your life to make you more fit to serve Him or making you a better person in general.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)