I've spent years preaching, teaching, and counseling with this truth undergirding it all: You can trust God because he loves you and always does what is best.
Now I'm in some tough times and I have a hard time trusting God.
I've been leading the Sunday Night Bible Study at church for the last few months. We are studying Genesis and just finished a lengthy section on Jacob's life. He is a great example of someone who looks a lot like me. Trusting God one day; panicking the next. Building an altar to Almighty God one day; grasping control of his life the next.
Jacob is unique because God chose him and his family to bring the Messiah into the world. And God chose me and my Christian family to take the Christ to the world.
God never gave up on Jacob even when Jacob was living as if God didn't exist. The promise God gave Abraham (Jacob's grandfather) was for Jacob, too. God would bless his family. God would use his family to bless the world. God would bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse Abraham. That applied to Abrham's grandson, yet Jacob lived a life marked by fear and deceit.
When we take our focus off of God we live like that. But we don't have to. We can live with confidence and assurance because…because you can trust God because he loves you and always does what is best.
God kept speaking to Jacob. He kept guiding Jacob. He chose to use Jacob for the awesome task of bring the Messiah into the world.
So take heart, Bob! God keeps speaking. He keeps guiding. He chose you (and you!) for the awesome task of taking the Christ to the world. In hard times, trust God.
