Dear Friends!We have been on quite a journey this last year with COVID! It has challenged us, changed us, shook us, scared us, and encouraged us to think about things in many a different way! It has also taught us that we are very much able to adjust and adapt, hasn’t it? Some of us thought that was not possible!
In Colossians, there is scripture (honestly there are several throughout the Bible) which teaches and encourages us by way of building our
relationship with Jesus and deepening our roots in him by growing our faith and walking in his love. (See picture). And it goes to reason that as we deepen our roots in him, our wings are reaching and strong. Which means we have even a greater ability to accomplish mighty things!
Sometimes struggles and challenges help us to contemplate who Jesus is to us, they might help us to step back and evaluate what our faith means to us, and it might even help us to realize that we might have been neglectful of our relationship with Jesus.
We have been searching and talking about some of the promises in the Bible and how they remind us of just how much God loves us and all the things God has made available to us. Many of us have been striving for a stronger foundation. We have been craving another level of peace and even trying to learn more about what it means to simply just surrender. God is always about helping us to transformation!
But, surrender is difficult and it relies completely on the faith you have nurtured. When you have the ability to give it to God, God lifts you up with scripture, like in Isaiah 41:10:
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10
And in Proverbs 3:5-6…
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6.
These scriptures remind us that as we grow close to him, the closer he comes to us, the stronger our faith is, the more we trust Jesus and the less stressful things like COVID make us because we don’t have control over those types of things.
We might remember that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus bowed his head and talked with his Father about what was ahead for him. In one way he asked God to take it all away, but yet, his surrender was imminent, he knew how important what was ahead for him (and for us, as well!) and Jesus had trust and a deep love for us. Jesus would go on to make the greatest sacrifice of all for each one of us as he surrendered his own life to God!
It is precisely that sacrifice that gives us the hope we need to take each step we take every day! It is what Jesus did for us which
reminds us we can do anything, especially as we plant our steps in God! Remember, Jesus came to live a human life, to show us how he could relate to the things we go through!
This month, let us deepen the love we have for Jesus by growing closer to him, by building on our friendship with him and trusting everything will be okay, in spite of all the things around us which might teach us otherwise.
Be blessed,
