Reminding myself who God is

The last couple of years has had its ups and downs for me. When you compare it to trials some people face, mine seem pretty trivial, but nevertheless I've had to walk through some difficult situations. I've found myself getting to know the Sovereign side of God. I know that sounds strange, because everything about God is Sovereign, but when you're not walking through anything difficult it's easy to talk about how good God is. It's when you are faced with trials, whether they are messy situations you got yourself into, or truly trials sent by God to test us and refine us that force us to realize that we either believe God is in control, and is working all things for our good and His Glory(Romans 8:28), or we don't.

Last spring in particular was a pretty difficult time for us because we were trying to sell our house, Erik got laid off, I found out I was pregnant, and Anna was having some developmental delays. Basically in that order. During this time, I found myself questioning God and what His plan for us was. I found it helpful to look up things in my Bible's concordance and write them down, and any time unbelief or anxiety would creep in, I would remind myself what God had to say about it.

So whenever I would worry about why our house hadn't sold or ask myself if God even cared  about where we lived(this would be an example of a mess we made for ourselves) I would remind myself that the Bible says God has an allotted period and place for everyone(Acts 17:26). When I would become overwhelmed over how we were going to make ends meet I would remember that Jesus says not to be anxious, that He will supply all our needs if we seek him first(Matt 6:26-34). It was also a huge comfort to meditate on Hebrews 13:5,"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said,"I will never leave your or forsake you."

When I was questioning God's timing of my being pregnant, I would remember that God says children are a blessing(Psalm 127:3), and that verse along with reminders of not being anxious helped get me through my fears over Anna's developmental delays.

If you are a Christian, trials will come. With that in mind, I would just like to encourage you to look up the Truth in God's Word. And you know what? Some of the things that I was having such a difficult time with last Spring have already been resolved. Anna is fine, I couldn't imagine life without Lily, Erik is going back to school(something that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been laid off), and we have never had a need go unmet.