How Satan Plans to Destroy Your Marriage Through Your Mind

The Bible tells us in John 10:10 that Satan comes to steal , kill, and destroy. He doesnt just want to destroy your life, he also wants to destroy your marriage.

Why?

Everything good that God creates, Satan hates. He wants to twist it, and make it evil. Not only that, but he hates unity, and will di anything to divide your marriage. Don’t let him do that to your marriage!

Satan is very crafty, and cunning. He won’t attack you right in the open so you know its him. He will be stealthy. The Bible warns us to be aware of Satan’s tricks unless he’ll trip us up. And he will often use us as the enemy to drive us away from our spouses.

What are some of Satan’s tricks to destroy your marriage? Let’s see.

He’ll Attack Your Thoughts

I once heard a pastor teach how Satan attacks your thinking. He said Satan will speak thoughts into your head in a way that sounds like its you thinking those things.

Thoughts like,

“My husband is an idiot.”

“He doesn’t think I’m pretty.”

Of course, these thoughts could be from you or from Satan. Either way, talk back to yourself-“my husband is not an idiot.” Or ask your husband, “do you think I’m pretty?” To get the reassurance you need.

The Bible calls us to take control over our unruly thoughts in 2 Corinthians 10:5,

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…”

Satan dwells in the shadows. Expose his little lies by simply going to your partner and seeking the truth yourself. He’s riding on you dwelling on these thoughts for hours and days, and eventually believing them to be true.

Which is why the Bible also commands us to only think on good, positive things in Philippians 4:8,

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Again, its so important to be watching what you think. Watching your thoughts will also reveal what demonic spirit could be trying to influence you.

Watch Your Thoughts

Demons can identify themselves by the thoughts you hear in your mind. You can tell the thoughts are not your own usually if they are something you’ve never thoguht before, something way out of left field, or dramatic.

Such as:

-constant angry thoughts could be a sign of a spirit of anger

-sinful thoughts

-thoughts of harm

If you notice any of these thoughts pop into your head, rebuke them and speak Philippians 4:8 mentioned above. It’s important to not consider these thoughts for a moment, and to rebuke them.

Also, sometimes evil thoughts can be from us since we are inherently sinful. But sometimes spirits do come and try to influence us. If you entertain them you will have a problem. And if you give them a way in through what you watch or listen to, that’s another problem.

Be Careful What You Watch

Certain tv shows, music, and movies can open up a door way for Satan to come in. Such as?

-Movies or shows that invoke spirit of fear like horror movies

-Porn or other sexually explicit entertainment

Horror movies because God doesn’t call us to a spirit of fear as 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us,

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Porn because the Bible warns us to run from sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians 6:18. “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

“But its just a movie.”

“it’s Just a show!”

You might be lamenting. What you watch and listen to can affect how you think about yourself and others.

Why do I think my husband is a bozo after watching Real Housewives of Atlanta all week (just an example, I hate reality tv)? Or why do I think my husband could be cheating on me after watching Tyler Perry’s Temptation?

That’s why King David wisely said in Psalms 101:3, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”

The things we watch, and listen to can have an effect on us and be an opening for Satan to destroy our marriages through our minds.

Conclusion

All wisdom comes from God. If youre unsure about a tv show, movie, someone in your life, or even going somewhere, ask the Lord for wisdom. Does he want you to continue watching or listening to that?

Before you leave the house every day Put on the whole armor of God daily (Ephesians 6:11-18). Ask the Lord to give you discernment to know what is good and what is evil.

God wants us to have happy marriages. Don’t let little thoughts these sink root in your mind and cause an argument, or a root of bitterness in yourself and your marriage. Expose these lies for what they are and live free!

Blessings,

M/M

What is the Meaning of Dreams?

What do my dreams mean?

Everyone has experienced having dreams. Some of us have good dreams, that make us wake up with a smile. Others have nightmares. But some of us will have recurring dreams that frequent our heads every night. Begging the question: what do my dreams mean? Let’s see.

God is Trying to Tell you Something

Have you ever had your mom or dad pester you about the same thing over and over again? Maybe its cleaning your room, or taking out the trash. They will keep bringing it up until you do something about it. Well, as a loving father, God does the same thing with us. 

For example, In 1 Samuel 28:15, King Saul states,

“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

Sometimes God would speak directly to people in their dreams like He did with Abimelek in Genesis 20:3,

“But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

 It makes sense for God to speak to us (indirectly or directly) in dreams. Throughout the day, were often too busy with the things of life and have too much on our minds for us to fully hear God’s voice. So consider, is God trying to speak to me in my dreams? Maybe the dream is a wake up call to pray. Or perhaps your dream may foretell things to come. 

Our Dreams May Foretell the Future

Considering the average person dreams four to six times per night according to the National sleep foundation, the fact we wake up remembering one specific one can be significant. It may be prudent to ask a pastor or trusted spiritual authority in your life about the dream. Just like King Nebuchadnezzar did in Daniel 2: 1-2.

“In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams…”

This king had one dream that was so impactful he threatened to kill people over it (can you say “crazy?”). When you have a dream that sticks with you and “troubles you” its from the Lord. Again, don’t be so quick to write off dreams! Especially the ones that trouble you.

Conclusion

Now I know some of us have dreams that are weird or crazy. But some of them do have a meaning: and I encourage you to pray and search for the meaning. Dreams have meaning. Don’t be so quick to write off your dream: especially if its recurring or if they trouble you. Like the wise turtle Oogway from the movie Kung Fu panda once said, “nothing is without meaning.”

Blessings,

M/M

Monday Musings: Five Lessons from a Wife Whose Parents are Divorced

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Divorce sucks. When it happens, it affects everyone-not just the husband and wife. My parents divorced when I was in high school, and the experience hurt. But I learned a lot examining my parents marriage-the highs, the lows and its eventual end taught me a lot of lessons that I draw upon now as a wife. Hopefully these lessons help you too.

1. Communicate as Much as You Can

As an introvert, I struggle sometimes with communicating with my spouse. I find it easier to withhold my thoughts and feelings and retreat into the safety of my mind. But I learned its better for the relationship to talk about any concerns or thoughts you have. Because your spouse wont know how you’re feeling until you tell them. Satan comes to destroy your marriage. He hates unity. He will speak lies to you about your spouse and continue to tell them until you believe it.

Satan: “He doesn’t think you look good in that outfit. In fact he thinks you’re ugly and wishes he was with his ex.”

Wife: “Does he still think about his ex? Does he think I’m ugly?”

By communicating, you put a stop to these lies and get the truth from your spouse yourself instead of assuming. Don’t be afraid to be real with your spouse. Ask him directly, “do you think I’m beautiful?” And don’t be afraid to talk back to those lying thoughts.

Wife: “that’s not true! My husband thinks I’m the most beautiful woman in the world!”

Speaking of beauty, I’ve noticed insecurities can lead to assumptions. Which can also lead to arguments. Leading to my next point.

2. Assume the Best, Not the Worst

This one can be tricky because if you’re offended, its easy to assume your husband intentionally tried to hurt you. Especially if the offense is rooted in an insecurity. Insecurities are like healing scars: if you poke or pick at it, it’ll sting. If our spouse unintentionally (or intentionally) pokes at your insecurity, it can hurt a lot. The best thing to do is to first communicate with your spouse and tell them you were hurt by them. Try your best not to attack or assume they intentionally tried to hurt you. I’ve learned the best thing to do with insecurities is recognize them, and grow from it. Assuming things about your spouse can be perceived as disrespectful. You never want to disrespect your spouse.

3. Unconditional Respect

We’ve all heard of unconditional love, but what about unconditional respect? I’ve learned that respect and love are equally important in marriage. Even the apostle Paul talks about the importance of respect as being as important as love in marriage. He commands the husband in Ephesians 5:25-33 to “love his wife as Christ loved the church and died for it…let everyone of you love his wife even as himself.”

But he also adds in verse 33 “…and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” As wives, we are to respect our husbands. Yes, our husbands should respect us too, but Paul specifically commands wives to respect their husbands. Why would he say this? I believe its because he knew respect is as important to men as love is to women and there would be times where we don’t want to respect our husbands. I’ve learned that respect is something that, when lacking, can cause lasting damage in a marriage. It can cause spouses to be embittered by one another. If a person doesn’t feel respected, they will find respect elsewhere.

Respect, like love, is a basic marital need. There will be times when I don’t feel my husband deserves respect, but I give it because in marriage, respect isn’t earned its required. More on this love and respect principle can be viewed in this awesome book: “Love and Respect: the love she most desires and respect he desperately needs” by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs which I’ve linked below.

Love and respect in marriage helps maintain unity in marriage like a glue. Glue is a perfect Segway to my next lesson, which is:

4. Keep the Unity

Unity is so important in marriage. I don’t just mean staying together forever. I also mean unity in goals for your lives. Before we got married, we spoke about life goals together and ensured we agreed on things like: children, pets, home ownership, debt, career goals, etc. We had to make sure we were both on the same page, or else we would not be unified on these topics. Jumping back on that respect point, I make sure never to disrespect or talk bad about my spouse to others including family. Because that will bring division. Speaking of family, family can be a cause of division in marriage. I spoke on this in a previous post called I married you, not your family

https://themustardseedwife.com/2021/09/17/i-married-you-not-your-family/

It’s important to set up appropriate boundaries with family members, and ensure the family knows your spouse is to be respected as another member of the family. An important  member of the marriage should be: Jesus.

5. Keep God in the Center

Keeping God in the center of your marriage will do wonders for your marriage and even before your marriage. Ask yourselves: Does God want us to be together in the first place?  Plead the blood of Jesus over your marriage daily. Pray for and with each other. Go to church together.

Make sure your heart is right with the Lord so you can love and serve your spouse the way you should. If you include God in your marriage, you will never be disappointed. Finally, the last one which is:

6. Divorce is Never an Option

Jason and I do as much as we can to ensure divorce is never an option for us. By not only implementing the lessons above, but also loving on each other, serving each other, keeping ourselves at our best so we maintain attraction for each other, and keeping our marriage first (after God). Of course, I understand there are instances where divorce should definitely happen, and God is able to make every broken situation into a beautiful one. I want to make sure I do everything I can to ensure its never an option.

Conclusion

Reiterating what I said above: I think divorce sucks. Divorce is like a bomb. Once its dropped it damages everything in its path: the children, the spouses, your finances, your home. So I want to do everything in my power to ensure divorce is not an option for myself and my husband.

Blessings,

M/M

The One Question You Don’t Want to Ask Yourself in Heaven.

I’m a huge Marvel fan. I’ve seen most of the Marvel movies and shows. Recently, Marvel released a new show called “What If?” The show examines what would happen if the usual storylines we’re familiar with in the Marvel movies took different turns. Like what if Peggy Carter became Captain America instead of Steve Rogers? Or what if Starlord was T’challa instead of Peter Quill? “What if” is a big question. It explores the realm of possibility. This is one question you don’t want to ask yourself when we get to eternity. Why, you might ask? Let’s explore this.

God’s Perfect Plan for You

The Bible says God has a perfect plan for our lives. But He does give us free will. We can choose to do things our way, outside of God’s will. Just look at Adam and Eve. God’s perfect will for them was to stay in the Garden of Eden: where they lived in peace, and had all the food and fulfillment they needed. But they chose to live outside of God’s plan for them. This plan was not as good as God’s plan: filled with toil, pain, sweat, and hurt. I often wondered what would have happened if Adam did not eat the fruit. If Adam chose to allow God to lead his life and not himself.

If we allow God to lead our lives, we won’t ever have to question what if. Because we will be in God’s perfect will. Now we are human, all of us struggle with doubt, or fear. But this is an appeal to live a life of faith. If you feel the Lord leading you to write a book-write the book. Or if you hear Him tell you to start a hard conversation with a family member about their faith, start that conversation. If you’re feeling afraid, do it with fear. God will see you through! But you probably should do it because you never know what is on the other side of your obedience. And if you stumble in your obedience, repent and keep going. God doesn’t give up on us if we struggle with our faith.

Use Your Gifts to Worship God

Live your best life for God! Use every gift and talent the Lord has given you. He gave it to you, so use it! Are you gifted in painting? Sell paintings or teach a class. Can you play piano? Play at church or in a band. Be like the man in the Bible who used all the talents the Lord gave him and brought a return on them. And if you aren’t sure what your gifts are, pray for guidance, do some online personality tests and some self-exploration. Check out the personality tests below:

https://www.16personalities.com

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/bring-your-bible/personality-test/

“He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.”

“His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord…Lord (wicked servant speaking), I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown…And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.”

“His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed…And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:14-30).

Don’t hide your talents out of fear. Do you know why the Lord was angry at the servant for hiding his talents? Because God gives us gifts to be used. Our gifts aren’t given to serve ourselves, but they’re given to be used as a form of worship in service. Just as Christ came not to be served but to serve others (Matthew 20:28).

Live Your Best Life for God

I don’t know if you can feel it but I feel we are in the last days. It’s like a feeling in me confirmed by what I see in the world every day. Jesus says in the last days there would be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). Just take a look at the news and you can see this is a fact. Right now, commentators are speculating the US and China could go to war in the South Pacific. Daniel 9:27 says the antichrist would establish himself as god in the third temple in Jerusalem. There hasn’t been a temple or sacrificial system in Israel for many years but Israeli leaders have already started planning for the building of the third temple.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I don’t want you to have any regrets. Now more than ever, Christians need to be who God called us to be: ALL of what God called us to be. We are called to be bold as lions (Proverbs 28:1), have strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26), to preach the truth to all who will listen (Matthew 28:16-20), to work hard (Colossians 3:23), and to love God and others (Mark 12:31). We should live hard for God everyday. Compared to our lives on Earth, Eternity is a long time. I personally don’t want to spend that time asking myself what if: What if I had prayed more? What if I had fasted more? What if I had loved more? Because by then, it will be too late.

Monday Musings: For Those Who Hate Being Single

Everyone has had that horrible feeling of scrolling through social media or walking down the street seeing a cute couple and thinking to yourself-I want that!

Everyone wants relationship goals: A hot guy or girl on your arm and a ring on your finger. I can relate. Before I got married, I hated being single. There were many nights I spent sadly scrolling through instagram looking at all the beautiful couples. But eventually, I was able to see the many perks of being single. And trust me, there are some perks! While marriage is awesome and I wouldn’t trade my husband for the world, I have to admit being single has a lot of perks.

1. You Have All the Time in the World

Folks who are single have boundless time compared to married people. Don’t get me wrong of course we all work, or go to school and other responsibilities. But being unmarried gives you the liberty to decide what you want to do with your time without consulting your spouse. So you can choose to go study abroad in France for a semester. Or go on a missions trip to Africa. You also have the freedom to explore your own desires and figure out what you want to do with your life. In retrospect, I wish I had travelled more when I was single. I had more free time, and time is a precious commodity. With free time, comes less responsibility.

2. Less Responsibility

Being single means you have a lot less responsibility compared to married people. Sure you may have bills, or take care of family members and such. But having a spouse comes with a whole host of other responsibilities. Since you’re joined to another person, you’re also joined to their responsibilities as well. When you’re married, you have to ensure that you and your spouse are fed, housed, bills are paid, appointments kept, and so on and so forth. Single people have (generally) less responsibility and gives you again, more time to yourself to do what you want to do. You can hang out with your friends as much as you want. You’re also more in charge of your money. You don’t have to consult with your spouse before making a huge purchase. So if your single and have the means, buy the Louis Vuitton shoes now lol.

3. Grow Closer to God

Finally, and most importantly, being single means you have more time to spend with God. Take a day to fast and spend time with the Lord—sure, why not? Spend the rest of the night studying Levitical priesthood? Heck yes! Plan a trip to Israel next year? Hello! When I was single, I spent sooo much more time with God compared to when I was married. The Apostle Paul even says about single Christian women that they desire to serve God more compared to married Christian women,

“There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:34).

When I was single, my desire was definitely to love on God as much as I could. God and I had movie nights, I would spend evenings fasting and praying; and I grew in my faith by leaps and bounds. This isn’t to say that you can’t continue to do these things in marriage, but its different. You have to consider what your husband might need or what you both have planned for the day, or what you need to do around the house. If I want to have a movie night with God, I’ll have to plan it out now. Growing in my faith takes a little more planning now that I’m married. Generally, EVERYTHING takes a lot more planning when you’re married compared to when you’re single.

I know how hard being single can be: you really, really want someone you can spend life with and love on. But Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “for everything there is a time and a season.” If we put so much stock into getting married, and think our lives won’t begin until marriage; not only will you be wasting time to do the things God wants you to do NOW but you probably won’t get married because you’ve created an idol out of marriage. In Exodus 20:3 God says, “You will have no other gods before me.” God will withhold things from us if were creating gods out of them.

Trust me, I’ve been there so I get it. But when I stopped being hellbent on not being single-my life blossomed! I grew in my relationship with God, grew to love myself and know who I am in Christ, and volunteered a lot. And I got married once I stopped focusing so much on being married. You can do the same. If you have a desire to be married, I believe God gave you that desire. Psalm 37:4 says to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Notice what this promise says first-to delight yourself in the Lord FIRST. Then He will give you what you want.

For example, if you desire to preach the gospel to millions of people, its safe to say God placed that desire in your heart because He wants you to do that someday. And God will give you that desire: if you desire to preach the gospel to millions of people, He will make that happen. It’s the same with marriage. If you desire to be married, God will allow you to get married. But don’t let it be the end all be all. God should be our ultimate desire. When we have Him, we have everything.

If God is Real, Why Does He Allow Bad Things to Happen?

This is a valid question I’m sure any person who’ve heard of God has wondered. I mean, just one glance outside, can tell you how broken, sad, and even dangerous our world is today. So, if God is so good and loving, does He just sit back and eat popcorn while the world burns? First of all: God is real. He loves people, and He wants what is best for humanity. But before I get carried away with that thought, we must demonstrate the validity of the Bible since I’ll be using the Bible to answer the question.

1. The Bible is Not Fiction

First, archeologists have discovered and continue to discover numerous artifacts and structures that prove the validity of the Bible. Here are just a few:

• In 1993, a stone block was discovered dating back to the ninth century BC with inscription BYTDWD meaning “house of David” a reference to Jesus’ great ancestor and king. 
• Two silver scrolls containing the priestly benediction from Numbers 6 was found southwest of Jerusalem in 1979. 
• In 1868 a missionary in Jerusalem found a victory stone made by the Moabite King Mesha in the 9th century  that records king’s version of a war fought with Israel in 850 BC; and the Bible records the same incident in 2 Kings 3. 
• The Epic of Gilgamesh, written on stone tablets from excavations of mid seventh century BC Nineveh tells the story of a flood coming to the earth. And the god Ea warned him about an approaching judgment and told him to build a boat to save his life from the watery onslaught. The story being very similar to the biblical narrative of Noah in Genesis 6–9 

• Almost all bible is represented in Dead Sea scrolls-scrolls that date back to 150-70AD. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible dated to the 10th century A.D. The Dead Sea Scrolls include over 225 copies of biblical books that date up to 1,200 years earlier. 

Second, the gospels are proven to be historical and true. Archeologists state the gospels were written between 64 and 70 A.D. by four different people and they are similar but not exactly the same which is what we should expect from four different accounts. Archeologists also date the letters Paul were written between 48 and 60 A.D. 

Finally and most importantly, historical evidence of Jesus exists. First century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote in a 20-volume history of the Jewish people in the book Jewish Antiquities. In the book, Josephus wrote of an unlawful execution. Josephus calls the victim, James, “the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah.” This historian also wrote the TestimoniumFlavianumwhich tells of a man who did surprising deeds and was crucified by Pilate. Since we know all these things, we know that the Bible is historically accurate and valid. So we can use the Bible to answer the question why God allows horrible things to happen. 

2. God Gives us Free Will

Photo by Alex Green on Pexels.com

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites…” Joshua 24:15.

The Bible says God is love (1 John 4:7). He is not a dictator. He doesn’t control people or tell them what to do. He gives us the choice to live however way we want to live because He loves us. God wouldn’t be able to say He loves people without giving us a choice of how we want to live our lives. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve to go and take care of the Garden. They had everything they needed: food, family, water, safety, and the peace of a relationship with God. He also told them to not eat of the Tree of Life (which was in the center of the Garden) (Genesis 2:17). He didn’t do this to tempt Adam and Eve, He was giving them a choice. To choose to follow God’s ways everyday. To choose to live the best life He wanted for them. Just like Adam and Eve, we have a choice every day: to live how God wants or to live how we want.

But in living how we want, it brings chaos sometimes. Sure we humans can come up with great ideas and we are capable of great things. But also horrible things. While wonderful charities, medicines, art and justice institutions came from the minds of humans, rape also came from the minds of human beings; stealing and murder also came from the minds of humans; and divorce came from the minds of humans. Like I said, we all are capable of goodness and evil-and its the evil that can be the most dangerous.  

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

God’s ways are good and the best. His ways give us peace, love, and joy if we give him a chance. But He gives us the choice to live however way we want to live because He loves us. Yes He gives many laws but His laws protect us and set a standard for the best way to live: if we all were allowed to do whatever we wanted, however we felt like-the world would be a very scary place-none of us would ever leave our homes! But because we have laws, if you stole someone’s car, you will go to jail. If someone assaulted you, they would go to jail. Just as we establish laws, God also have laws in place to keep us safe. When we choose to break those laws, there are consequences.

3. You Have to Know the Bad to Appreciate the Good

Photo by Jakub Tabisz on Pexels.com

Yes God is a powerful God, and He can interfere in situations. In giving us free will, He does allow us to face the consequences of our situations. And sadly, in the brokenness of the world, many people suffer. But God can take the situations we find ourselves  in and make it beautiful-there are so many instances of this in the Bible: Ruth who lost her husband and married Boaz, or Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers. These situations caused pain, and distress but after the pain was peace and healing from God. If we didn’t know pain, we wouldn’t understand God as a healer. If we didn’t know loss, we wouldn’t know God as a comforter. If we didn’t know confusion, we wouldn’t know God as the truth. In the loss and hurts in the World, God can shine the brightest.  

Anyone can see our world is broken. We all need answers to our questions. God has all the answers we need. I believe God saved us Christians to be apart of the answer the world needs by leading the world back to God. Because in God we have peace from our struggles; healing from hurts; provision in place of poverty; and hope instead of hopelessness. Imagine a perfect world: no sickness, no death, no fear, or credit card bills. We would have peace, love, and joy. But we also wouldn’t know the relief of healing after pain, the joy after grief, the peace after chaos. So without the horrible, wicked things in the world we truly couldn’t appreciate all of God’s wonderful attributes without experiencing them in the pitfalls and triumphs of our lives.  

4 Tips on How to Trust God in Uncertain Times

All of us want stability. To know that our basic needs will be met daily: food, water, a place to live, etc, etc. But in these uncertain times, it can be super easy to fall into the fear trap.

But God doesn’t want us to live in fear, He wants us to live lives where we trust Him daily. But I know how hard that can be, so in this post I’ll detail some practical ways to trust God in uncertain times.

1. Know Who God is

When you really take the time to study the scriptures, it’ll become abundantly clear who God is: a loving, strong, resourceful father who desires to care for His children.

He says he has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11)

He says the righteous will never be forsaken nor beg for food (Psalm 37:25)

He tells us not to worry (Matthew 6:25)

He even know the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7)!

God cares about every little detail about our lives because He is our loving heavenly Father. No father would willfully allow His children to suffer needlessly.

Many times in the scriptures God promises He will take care of His children. Here are some good ones:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:7)

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25).

He always keeps His promises. So take the time to study about God’s character: he is very faithful and won’t ever abandon you.

2. Control What You Can

In these uncertain times, its easy to worry and harder to actually do something about your fears. Are you afraid you won’t be able to provide for your family?

Find ways to make money. Start a YouTube channel, start a notary business, sell items on Etsy or amazon, or start a blog. The possibilities are endless with side hustles.

Are you afraid your health will be compromised? Do what you can to strengthen your body and immune system.

Do what you can to counter your fear. If you’re trusting in the Lord, and placing your life in his hands, He’ll allow your plans to succeed (Proverbs 16:3).

Do your part, and God will take care of the rest. Like the old adage goes: “God helps those who help themselves.”

3. Get Your Hands Off the Wheel

Allow God to do what He wants to do in your life. Are you forcing something to happen that clearly isn’t God’s will?

Are you ignoring what God has explicitly say to do? Are you praying about things but still worrying about it?

Stop that! Let me do some math for you:

Worry + Prayer does not = answered prayer

Faith + Prayer = answered prayer

God doesn’t want us worrying over things. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,” (John 14:27).

I know how hard it is to trust God for something when there is pressure on you to have an answer. We often want quick answers to our problems, but God likes to take His time sometimes.

But trust His plans are always on time. I remember as a child my family and I were going to be evicted from our home. The rental office worker was only two doors down from our home when we were finally able to get the rent money. Talk about an on-time God!

Pray over situations and wash your hands of it, allowing God to do His thing. Now sometimes we won’t like His solutions, but they will be what’s best for us.

4. Stay Away From the Noise

Sometimes you need a break from the world. From the news, social media, YouTube. Those things can rally cloud your mind, and make you forget who God is and who you are.

I had to step away from social media for a little bit myself because I noticed when I was viewing it daily, seeing all the brokenness, atrocities, and injustices in the world got me feeling hopeless about my own future.

Now, I’m not saying to not be informed; but for me it is important to limit myself from social media and other sources. According to the Center for Mental Health in UK, social media is strongly linked to anxiety and depression.

We live in uncertain times. Although these times make it easy to be fearful, we can use these times as an exercise of faith. Trusting God daily for our provisions, dreams, goals, and futures.

This coming from a woman who used to find it easy to agonize over small things and worry all the time (I’ve gotten a lot better!). But eventually I learned that everything that happens in my life, God is in control over.

Besides, this world isn’t our home anyway-were just passing through. As the world continues to spiral into madness, this fact becomes more clear every day And faith in Christ becomes more necessary.

If you’re struggling to trust Him, like the man whose son was possessed of a devil ask, the Lord to “help your unbelief” (Mark 9:24). He knows our frame, that were humans who struggle to see our lives through the eyes of faith instead of worry, but the sooner we live lives of faith, the less afraid we’ll be.

Blessings,

M/M