my story

the series at church the past 3 weeks has been called "your story". we've talked all about how God can use the things from our past - good things, mistakes, hurts and heartaches, to use us and to shape our future. we've talked about the present and how we communicate with God and what our lives would look like if we let our relationship with Him affect our decisions in the present. and lastly, this week, we talked about the things God has promised us and how those can shape our view and outlook on the future.

i'd say this last week was probably where God spoke to me most. i've seen Him use my past and ugly, hard, and/or hurtful things to change me and work in me in ways i never thought possible. and i really am striving to allow Him to always influence the decisions i make in the present. but man, sometimes, crappy things in life get me down or i just get discouraged about the future and where i'm headed and i totally lose sight of all God has promised. i quit living life focused on Him and instead am completely focused on my self and what i can do to change things.

but, God has promised me so many wonderful things. He's promised to complete me, He's promised to give me joy and peace. He's said that He will give me wisdom if i ask for it, and He's preparing an awesome heavenly home with Him that i'll go to someday. if i lived my life, and based my thoughts and decisions about the future on all of this - wow would my life be different.

one of the questions we covered in the small group lesson with the high school girls last night asked us to describe the character of Christ and to think about how much more trust we would put in these promises if we really understood and believed in who God is.

"the Lord is good...."
nahum 1:7

God is good. it's something simple i know i say a lot, and even hear others say a lot. and God really is good. but i think there is so much more to that statement that just straightforward, immediate thought or response we might have when we say or hear that statement. if God is good, and God is also unchanging, then that means He can never be anything less or offer us anything less than what is good. wow - when i really think about it....that just blows my mind and really encourages me. why would i ever be worried about my future if i really trusted in and believed in this characteristic of my great God? if i believe God is good and that He can't change - then how can He ever give me something that in the end will not be good?

right now, life is pretty easy. i've got a lot of great things going on and i am very happy with how things are happening! :) i honestly have no real complaints. but, there are always going to be ups and downs. right now is a high, and at any time the low could come. i want to train myself to remember and focus on these promises of God. i know who He is. i know that He is trustworthy and i know He has my best interests in mind. He has promised me great things, and i really don't have any reason to ever worry about my story or what the future holds.