“The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to those who seek him.” -Lamentations 3:25
It’s so much fun to watch young children get excited for Christmas or Easter, even their birthdays. They light up, eagerly knowing there will be gifts and candy and things for them. Their excitement can easily spill over to us when we put the stresses aside and look at the holidays with the same innocence.
What about as an adult? Are there things you’ve eagerly looked forward to? Maybe a vacation, a well-planned party, getting together with family. The anticipation can be just as exciting as a child waiting for the holidays.
There is another event that is promised to us that we can eagerly look forward to with more excitement than anything this world can offer. The return of Jesus when He will come and take us away from all this world has thrown at us. But it has not happened yet, and we are asked to simply wait. Oh, this can be hard the way the world is falling apart faster and faster, and we have to keep “adulting” each day. God has asked to do three things: Believe, Seek, and Trust.
BELIEVING: We live in such a skeptical world where people need physical proof before they believe in something. Doubt rests in the minds of most of us. Probably because we’ve been made fools of in the past and don’t want it to happen again. ‘Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me’. We’ve heard that a time or two and have set a guard up around our hearts.
“Doubting” Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, was given the name because he had a hard time believing without actual proof in front of him. He had seen Jesus crucified and die and, in his mind, he couldn’t grasp the idea of Jesus coming back to life. It could be because he was overcome with grief, or he didn’t want to get his hopes up in a miracle (have we all been there a time or two?). Nonetheless, once he saw Jesus’ scars his doubts subsided, and he believed. The Bible tells us we need to simply believe without proof and Jesus talks about how blessed one is when they don’t need it to believe- John 20:27-31
Belief is a faith thing. Jesus sits in heaven now and all we have is scripture and upbringing to hold onto, but when we believe Jesus is real and the salvation story is real, we will have life through Jesus unlike anything this world can offer. We need to believe, no matter how long we must wait. Jesus is working in our lives and Jesus is coming back to take us to heaven. Belief without physical proof knowing we won’t be fooled; God’s promises are true.
SEEKING: Over the last several years our society has come up with a fun outing for people to do. It’s called Geocaching. For those unfamiliar with it, geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunt game using GPS enabled devices. Those playing navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and attempt to find a container hidden at that location. If you can find the container there is a piece of paper that you can sign, date, and write your state down on, and sometimes the container will have a small trinket inside. You can take the trinket if you like but you must leave another for the next person to find, and there are several to find all over the country. If you go on a trip, it’s a fun way to pass the time.
My hubby and I tried it on a trip, and it was fun but some of the clues were hard to figure out and it took several minutes of seeking, in the area that the coordinates took us to. But the hope of finding it kept us looking, as our compass played hot and cold with us. Then, of course, finding it and seeing all the names and states of individuals who joined the hunt on their journey was cool too.
Like geocache, God has promised something good for us when He returns but while we wait, we must keep seeking Him. We need to hold onto the hope of His promise and not get discouraged and walk away. The Bible clearly states that God will give good things to those who seek Him. Daily we need to look to Him for direction, for strength, and for help. Just like the treasures (trinkets) the geocaches hold, our Lord is our treasure and when we take time to seek Him, the good in return is wonderful. Don’t give up, read your GPS (the Bible) daily and you will find what you’re looking for.
TRUSTING: Have you ever watched nature as each season changes? I’m sure you’ve marveled at the fall colors on the trees or took pictures of beautiful flowers in the summer. Maybe you’ve watched as winter battered the trees outside. But have you really stopped to think about it? This last winter I really noticed something about the bare trees I saw on my commute to work each day. There are many along one of our roads and I’ve seen them a thousand times, but I happened to pay more attention this last winter season. It’s amazing how intricately each tree is made and how many branches intertwine with each other forming a beautiful image. As bare as the tree is now, how beautiful it will be when the leaves again begin to bloom and fill each branch. Then I watched as spring approached and the trees around me began to get their new buds and just like that, our road was again a forest full of greens.
Yes, most of nature is inanimate objects incapable of feeling like we do, and God created the trees and flowers to do what they do each season, but I can still find a lesson from creation. No matter what the trees endure, battered by wind, frozen by snow, wet with rain or heat from the sun, they still grow and stand firm. Jeremiah tells us that no matter what comes our way, good or bad, we need to stand firm in our trust. Just like the roots of a tree planted deep in the ground we need to put our roots deep in Jesus. We are also God’s creation just like nature and God has a purpose for each of us like He does the trees. In all seasons of life, we need to trust God as we wait for Him to show us that purpose and as we wait for Him to fulfill His promise. Stand firm in Jesus just as the trees stand firm.
The Lord has said He is coming back and even though we don’t know when, we can wait on God with the assurance that He will keep His promise. We just have to keep waiting and watching and I believe we are ever closer to this blessed event, seeing the way this world is going. Stand firm and stand strong. Revelation 22:12-13, “Listen! I am coming soon! I will bring my reward with me, and I will repay each one of you for what you have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,[a] the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
When we spend time studying God's Word that is when we can build our trust in God. The more we seek Him the more our belief can grow. Let's continue our study with 1 John 3:11-24
Study 5, 1 John 3:11-24- https://www.docdroid.net/79TfHY9/study-5-docx
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