America’s official motto is an inspiring one. It represents a race which believes that as long as they trust in God, everything will be fine.
In the United States, this motto first appeared on an 1864 coin with the strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War and became an official motto in 1956 after the passage of an Act of Congress which proclaims “’In God We Trust’ is the national motto.”
The people in the United States humbly acknowledged the presence of a divine protection, that God is the source of all power and authority in the civil government and Jesus Christ as the ruler among nations. For them, trusting God was survival.
America’s national motto reflects that its people acknowledge their allegiance and debt to God and expresses a deism ceremonial enough that everyone can agree on. “In God We Trust” recognizes their historical connection to religion.
In God we trust
On a personal level, “In God We Trust” and trusting a God that we cannot see is a test of our willingness to follow Him. Abraham, one of God’s most faithful servants was asked several times to leave his home to heed to a place unknown to him, but under God’s directions. He willingly followed and took all the overwhelming predicaments and obstacles. God rewarded him by multiplying his seeds as the stars in heaven. (Exodus 32:13)
Difficulty most often pre-runs a happening which is going to be wonderful. God begins with an impossibility when He wants to do some miracles. He operates in power and creativity…He is supernatural and it is only as we go along His path that we realize things begin to unfold in a manner almost impossible to believe. We just have to trust Him.
When trials come
God sometimes asks us to do something we think we are not capable of doing. Remember, He would not have chosen us if He thinks we are not ready. We need to believe in His power and He will equip us with the necessary things to do what we are asked to. He just prepares us for upcoming blessings that surely manifest His power. Thus, there are no rooms for fears and doubts.
We can count on His promise because whatever we presently suffer are nothing compared, and not even worth the comparison, to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18.
God is an Almighty God. So mighty that He created the universe which breathes stars out to form huge raging balls of fire. The same God made an amazing wonder by knitting human bodies together with awesome detail.
The all-powerful God has power to sustain these creations to prevent them from falling apart. He is a Sustainer, not just a Creator. His handiwork is beyond compare that anyone who does not believe God may wonder where these creations come from.
He is a God so great, so omnipotent that our fears, predicaments and even political challenges are nothing if put to His control. He is a God always there for His people. Trusting Him solves all the problems there is. We are so loved that by calling constantly to God dependently is not bothersome to Him at all. No doubt, that is exactly what is supposed to be done - trusting Him is the best thing to do.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Story of Job - Faith Under Trial
Job, a prosperous wealthy man of impeccable moral character was a man with whom God had proved to be still His own, no matter how hard his trials were. Satan challenged Job’s goodness, proposing to God to test him since he is only good because of God’s protection. God did agree and removed Job’s protection. Satan removed Job’s wealth, children and health so he would curse God.
Despite his extremely difficult situation, Job did not curse God, but rather cursed the day of his birth. Albeit he protested his plight and sought for an explanation with his 3 friends, he never accused God for the injustice. God then reply to Job with these famous words: “Brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you will answer.” Job was overwhelmed and said “I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” Then Job’s trial was over. He is restored to health and gained more than what he lost in possessions. He lived for another 140 years.
Learning from Job’s experience
Many people are maybe wealthy, but most of them are not godly. Likewise, there are people who suffered much from scarcity and sickness, they blame and sometimes curse God for whatever happened to them. Job’s story helps righteous people to learn to trust God when they go through traumatic experiences, while waiting for Gods resolution for their problems.
Job proved to Satan that not all Christians, stripped of comfortable things, would curse God. Job had shown that his character is not that weak. Later, his three friends visited, comforted and lamented with him. They discussed his calamities and sufferings, not knowing he was put under trial. They were certain that God punished Job for committing a sin, which he vehemently denied.
Many chapters of the book of Job tell us of the wrong accusations of Job’s friends and Job’s many denials. Job enumerated his complaints of life’s inequities and unfairness. Elihu, one of Job’s younger friends recognized Job’s perspective distorted. He asked Job, “Do you think this is right? Do you say, “my righteousness is more than God’s?” (Job 35:2).
Things Job failed to see
Job, so confident of his righteousness and innocence, claimed that God was simply not treating him fairly. For this reason, Job missed the chance to learn the highly-valuable lesson from his trials. Instead of letting God mold him and his patience, he objected on God’s unresponsiveness and failure to acknowledge his being righteous.
Job later realized that he was so blinded by his over confidence that he failed to see God’s fairness... for that he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. (Job 42:3-6).
Our current situation
No matter how severe the pain is, we should never think that God does not listen or does not care. God wants us to learn beyond what we can presently see. We also learned from Job’s story the following lessons: God can love a wealthy person (we thought He cannot), we can be stripped off our wealth anytime to put our strength of faith under trial, it is possible to surmount even the most terrible test and that God is always there with us though He might be intentionally silent sometimes.
King David’s excellent advice is: "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" (Psalm 27:14).
Despite his extremely difficult situation, Job did not curse God, but rather cursed the day of his birth. Albeit he protested his plight and sought for an explanation with his 3 friends, he never accused God for the injustice. God then reply to Job with these famous words: “Brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you will answer.” Job was overwhelmed and said “I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” Then Job’s trial was over. He is restored to health and gained more than what he lost in possessions. He lived for another 140 years.
Learning from Job’s experience
Many people are maybe wealthy, but most of them are not godly. Likewise, there are people who suffered much from scarcity and sickness, they blame and sometimes curse God for whatever happened to them. Job’s story helps righteous people to learn to trust God when they go through traumatic experiences, while waiting for Gods resolution for their problems.
Job proved to Satan that not all Christians, stripped of comfortable things, would curse God. Job had shown that his character is not that weak. Later, his three friends visited, comforted and lamented with him. They discussed his calamities and sufferings, not knowing he was put under trial. They were certain that God punished Job for committing a sin, which he vehemently denied.
Many chapters of the book of Job tell us of the wrong accusations of Job’s friends and Job’s many denials. Job enumerated his complaints of life’s inequities and unfairness. Elihu, one of Job’s younger friends recognized Job’s perspective distorted. He asked Job, “Do you think this is right? Do you say, “my righteousness is more than God’s?” (Job 35:2).
Things Job failed to see
Job, so confident of his righteousness and innocence, claimed that God was simply not treating him fairly. For this reason, Job missed the chance to learn the highly-valuable lesson from his trials. Instead of letting God mold him and his patience, he objected on God’s unresponsiveness and failure to acknowledge his being righteous.
Job later realized that he was so blinded by his over confidence that he failed to see God’s fairness... for that he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. (Job 42:3-6).
Our current situation
No matter how severe the pain is, we should never think that God does not listen or does not care. God wants us to learn beyond what we can presently see. We also learned from Job’s story the following lessons: God can love a wealthy person (we thought He cannot), we can be stripped off our wealth anytime to put our strength of faith under trial, it is possible to surmount even the most terrible test and that God is always there with us though He might be intentionally silent sometimes.
King David’s excellent advice is: "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" (Psalm 27:14).
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