Saturday, September 12, 2015

Saturday, September 12, 2015

[by Keesha Sullivan]

F​our children in Iraq were beheaded when they refused to renounce their faith in Yeshua. 150 Kenyan college students were targeted and killed due to their Christian faith. Christians have and will continue to v​oluntarily suffer death and other persecution as the penalty for loving Jesus and refusing to renounce their belief in Him. It seems as though even in America the disdain for followers of Jesus is growing more intense.

If we look through our natural eyes at what is going on in the world, it immediately causes us distress and panic. In today's scripture in the book of Psalms, David, from a natural/worldly, perspective had all the reason to fear losing his life. He wrote this Psalm based on when the Philistines had seized him in Gath.

David admits being afraid, but he doesn't stay in that place of trepidation. He says, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" (Psalm 56: 3­4). David allows God's perfect love to cast out His fear. As soon as he finishes admitting that he is scared, he proclaims, "I WILL TRUST IN YOU."

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Chronicles chapter 14, an Ethiopian army of 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots advanced against King Asa and his 580,000 men. "Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, 'O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for WE TRUST IN YOU ALONE'"(2 Chronicles 14:11).

When I have become really worried or anxious about something, I've begun to proclaim and repeat the phrase, "I TRUST YOU." I am not exaggerating when I tell you that God immediately touches my mind and my heart. There is something about making that proclamation in the midst of some of the hardest, most dire situations that changes your way of thinking. God works in us supernaturally when we cry to him in our total dependency.

This proclamation declares that we don't know what to do. It declares we are lost and feeling helpless. It declares there is no one else to turn to but God. It is saying we are putting the last of our hope in the only One that can change anything.

I believe the men, women, and children that have lost their earthly lives by proclaiming their trust in God are being rewarded in heaven. God defeated the Philistines for David and the Ethiopian army for Asa. God took my mountain of worry and made it into a molehill.

Lord, we trust You! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You alone. We will not remain afraid. What can mortal man do to us? We trust You, and we love You. We will continue to praise Your Name! Amen.