Soul Faith: Do You Believe God is Good?
Do you believe God is good?
Way down deep, where pain and disappointment are packed up tight, do you believe God is good?
One of the challenges of being human is our struggle to hold on to a firm concept of God that strengthens our soul and provides a spiritual foundation for our lives.
The temptation to question God’s goodness is as old as Adam and Eve. Questions nag and whisper, “Did God really say?” as our struggle to believe God echoes through the ages.
The first act of disobedience has its root in doubting the goodness of God. Eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve experienced guilt and shame, believing they needed to hide from God. Eyes open to sin, they covered themselves and hoped God wouldn’t notice.
God came to find them, not with judgement but with a question of grace–“Where are you?” Such a grace moment.
When we struggle with guilt and shame, do we believe God is good, or do we fear He is out to get us? Do we come running?
Or do we run away and hide?
What is your concept of God?
Maybe we keep trying to define and understand God as simply a better version of ourselves. Yet He is unlike anyone we have ever known, completely unique. Unable to see and touch God, we often struggle to know He is near.
Part of the problem is we confuse emotion, knowledge, and belief.
Jesus speaks the struggling heart and the doubting faith, the normal and the extraordinary, the rich and the destitute. His words are for all of us, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).
When we struggle to believe God is good, we worry and fret. It is to these fears that Jesus speaks.
Let not your heart be troubled… This is not just a pat on the hand, a simple answer for the complex problems we face. The words let not, are a loving command and good advice from God himself. The word troubled is filled with the games our minds play when our emotions run away with our faith. The greek word for troubled, tarasso, means to agitate, to cause inward commotion, to take away calmness of mind, to make restless, to strike one’s spirit with fear and dread…
Jesus speaks these words to us, knowing that we struggle with our emotions and faith. They are words of compassion, not condemnation.
Believing God and believing Jesus has the power to enable us to stand firm against the emotional stress of worry and fear. The antidote to worry is Christ.
The solution to fear is Jesus.
Believe in God, believe also in Me. Just as God came to find a troubled Adam and Eve in the garden, Jesus comes to us in our troubles, showing us the way forward.
To believe, pisteuo, is a word well worth reflecting on. To believe God is to trust Him. To believe He is good is to rely on Him. In case that doesn’t go deep enough for us, this word also means to cling to Him.
To believe is to place confidence in God.
Do you believe God is good?
A few verses later, Philip, a disciple who has been with Jesus for years, says, “Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.” Listening to Jesus wasn’t enough. Walking with Jesus wasn’t enough. Serving Jesus wasn’t enough. Philip, and probably the rest of the disciples, still struggled to fully understand Jesus was God. Jesus replies with the same grace that God extended to Adam, “Have I been so long with you, and yet, you have not come to know Me, Philip?”
Maybe it’s easy to point the finger at and think, silly Philip. How could he not fully get it, that he was in the presence of God? Yet don’t we often, like Philip, default to a mentality that wants to know rather than believe–explain it, teach it, prove it to me…
We need to know Christ with greater belief, not more information. Although study is good, no amount of head knowledge can take the place of the heart knowledge of faith.
True strength for our souls rests on a true and accurate concept of God. When we believe and have real confidence that He is good, we can face our troubles with faith rather than fear.
Soul, decide to have faith like a child. Simple faith and simple acceptance that God is truly good. Instead of coming to belief through knowledge, come to knowledge through belief.
Soul Puzzle: Finding the Right Fit
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#identity #newcreation”]Life is a lot like a puzzle.[/tweetthis]
Pieces of a life snuggle up tight. Some fit together properly and create something beautiful. Some pieces have gotten mixed up with a cramp of confusion, and I realize they were never intended to fit the picture God has for my life.
Misplaced pieces have been added from other puzzles.
Some pieces I put in my life from someone else’s puzzle, tattered bits and snagged parts that seemed like they should be part of my life.
Some I thought I needed; others, I merely thought would look good in the picture of who I want to be.
What happens when I snatch a piece from another puzzle, another life, and try to make it mine? Some pieces look like they will be a sure fit in a particular spot. The curves and smooth edges appear to fit with pieces already in place.
Truth is, I have to do a good deal of pushing and wiggling to try and force the misfit puzzle piece in place. Frustrated, I try another spot, “maybe this will fit better over there…” Again and again, I keep trying to make the pieces look like the picture in my head.
Expectations.
Sometimes I ache with the disjointed fragments pushed in place by others. Misplaced expectations added by others who thought they knew best what I should look like and with good intention, added parts of their puzzles to mine.
Lost pieces.
Somewhere I misplaced parts of myself, lost them along the way. Frittered away in days too busy, treasures dropped in distraction’s wake. Where did they go?
How do I get them back?
Hurry up and be done.
As I hastily try to finish the picture and push all the pieces in place, I sometimes put the right piece in the wrong place in my efforts to get through the work of increasing piece by piece, day by day.
Too often, unwilling to reflect on the Master’s design, I don’t notice that I have placed something in the wrong spot or that the fit is close, but not what was intended. In my self effort, I create a distorted version of what God’s design for my life was intended to be. My self effort creates confusion rather than receives grace.
The ache of empty places.
I feel the stress and the ache of the empty places where I know a piece should be, but I haven’t found the right piece yet. I feel the disjointed uneasiness when pieces of my life are in the wrong place. I long to know the beautiful picture my life was created to be.
God has the power and the desire to make all things new.
This is His promise and His purpose. He is making me a new creation, a new self. Spiritual growth comes as I surrender to Father’s loving hand as He places before me the picture of what His true design is for my life.
As He pulls out the pieces that have been forced into wrong places and gently fits them into their intended spot, the fit is perfect–joy comes and my spirit rests.
One by one, He repairs the pieces that have been bent or broken from the force of hands too insistent and forceful to make the picture look complete rather than fit properly.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#identity #newcreation”]Only God can restore the broken.[/tweetthis]
He removes the pieces that never belonged in my life. As He takes something out that does not belong, I feel the discomfort of an empty space that must come in order to make room for what God desires to place there. I feel the impatience to hurry up and be “done.”
One by one, God lovingly places each piece to the puzzle of my character in its proper place. Day by day I see more clearly what my new creation looks like. I am learning to trust that God’s vision of my soul is far more beautiful and whole that anything I can impatiently “create.”
I am learning to cooperate and seek out His hand, rather than attempt to hide what does not belong. I see with increasing joy and clarity that my new creation is Christ in me—the hope of glory. Our God does, indeed, make all things new.
“Therefore, if any man is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, new things have come”. II Corinthians 5:17
Soul Glow: Shine Like Crazy
You will shine…like stars in the sky. Phil. 2:15
Made to shine
Have you ever tried to make yourself shine? Feeling like you’ve lost your glow, have you ever worked harder, trying to scrub up a good shine?
Longing and leaning–these are the actions of a heart that frets to shine. Though I would love to have answers to all my questions and solutions to the issues that leave gaps in my life, it is the shining I yearn for.
I want to shine with the life of Christ, blazing with the glory that comes from Spirit and grace working in this wayward heart.
Do you know this longing?
God has placed a longing to shine within each one of us–the deep desire wrapped tight with need to know His light in our hearts.
Then you will shine like stars…
The beauty of stars is they are simply doing what they are created for. For a while I tried to clean up my act and rev up my energy– trying and trying, I worked so hard to make myself shine. I had a picture in my head and maybe even an idol in my heart of what shining should look like. Maybe you have done this too?
Ready to shine: are we making or letting?
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father…” Matthew 5:16
How to shine? It is the difference between letting and making. I realize Jesus doesn’t say make your light shine by what you do. He speaks the simplicity of letting: Let your light shine before men…”. It is the natural result of being who we are created to be–living containers for the glory of Christ.
Created to shine, this light comes from the presence and work of Christ within. It is His light, not our ability, appearance, or energy that lights up this world hurting with the pain of darkness and confusion.
And in Christ, we will shine.
It is what we are made for today and every day.
Then you will shine. This begs the question–what comes before the then, before the shine? What is the energy, the capacity, the situation that causes this shine glory? Throughout Philippians 2, Paul hints at the shine lessons of a God who is deeply at work in our hearts.
▪ When we encourage others in Christ, light shines and love grows.
▪ Extending comfort and to others, we shine with compassion.
▪ When we work together, embracing the work of the Spirit, we shine with unity.
▪ Considering others before ourselves, humility shines as we lift others up.
▪ As we empty ourselves and choose to serve, we shine with the light of Christ.
▪ Trusting God to work in our hearts and lives, we shine with the light of His pleasure.
▪ Choosing to do all things with out grumbling or complaining, we shine with the peace of submission.
▪ Holding fast the word of life to the hurting world, truth shines with the power of God.
The work of God deep in a life–shining is the overflow of God at work. It is the mark of his presence that brings forth glory.
So bring on the shine and trust God to do what pleases Him through your life. How are you shining today?
You can find the entire Soul Strength series here.
Soul Comfort: You are Loved
Comfort for your soul when emotions pull you down.
You are loved.
You are loved when you are fearful and anxious. When you are afraid I will let you down, you are loved. You are loved when sadness makes the days feel dark and the problems seem unsolvable.
You are loved when you’re unhappy with yourself, wishing you could get your act together. You are loved when you fail, when your work is ineffective or unnoticed. You are loved when others misunderstand or find fault.
You are loved when you don’t meet expectations. You’re loved when you could do better, when you make excuses, or stuff the hurts down deep.
You’re loved when you are too much or too little. When you retreat into your shell, I see your heart. You are loved when you are too tolerant, impulsive, or resentful.
I love you and I don’t condemn you. I came that you might have abundant life in the midst of all of life, the good and the hard. My grace is enough for you on your worst day, in your messiest moment.
Let your heart and your emotions settle into Me. I will not let you down. I am strength for your soul.
I am El Roi, the God who sees and knows. I know your deepest needs…
You are loved.
This post is part of the Soul Strength series. Please share this post with anyone who needs a bit of soul comfort that comes from the God of all comfort.
Amen and amen. Blessings from my heart to yours,
Ginger
Soul Keeping: Taking Care of Your Body
Our souls are made up of body, mind, and emotions. Right in the middle of it all is our spirit.
So far in our Soul Strength series, we’ve covered a lot of territory. Today I am thrilled to share one of my very special bloggy friends as we focus on the physical part of our lives. This blog is focused on where the spiritual meets the practical, and taking care of our bodies is practical–and oh so important.
I want to introduce you to Katie Oldham. Katie is a whole life blogger who is a word crafter, real food recipe creator, and fitness motivator. She writes about body, soul, and taste buds! I am in total awe of someone who can create delicious and healthy recipes, and I love reading her heart spread over the page.
Katie as lived whole and healthy through some hard days. You can read her story here. You’ll be inspired! You are going to want to try her gluten free pumpkin spice muffins. Katie can help you feed your precious body with good, healthy food. You’ve seen my kitchen, and there’s a really good reason I don’t do recipes!
Last week I read Katie’s post on the importance of resistance training for women, and I really wanted to share it with you.
Here’s Katie:
Why We Need Resistance: 7 GOOD Reasons…Ladies, Listen up!
I enjoy working hard and rocking a good sweaty exercise routine! But, you won’t find me raising my voice or sending my clients to the mat for pushups when they really feel more like a push over.
What I want is to encourage you! To empower you to use that beautiful body God gave you!
I know what movement does for me and it’s so much more than what you can see. I’m not in it for the aesthetics anymore. Exercise is a sanity saver, a part of a peace-routine for my soul before the day saturates it with stress and a way to invigorate my mind and body when keeping up with the kids seems impossible…
Why resistance? Because, in addition to the numerous health benefits to your body, weight training works wonders for women. Here are seven reasons I hope inspire you to strength train:
1. Confidence. Are you surprised this is first on my list? It’s not all about the aesthetics! When your body feels strong and you’ve taken the time to flex your muscles, your mind will respond and you’ll stand up straighter (literally and figuratively). It feels good to feel capable!
2. Boost your Metabolism. If you add muscle to your body (even just a little bit), your body becomes a better calorie burner. That means even at rest you’ll use more calories. So, whether your health requires you to lose a little weight (the unhealthy kind) or you want to maintain your weight as you age (and we all are!), strength training really is a must.
3. Gain Independence. I’ve been a single mom for almost four years and before that I was a caregiver for two small girls and my late husband. Physical labor is part of my position here at home. While I need to call for help from time to time, I love the feeling of being able to accomplish certain jobs without too much trouble or injury. Maybe you’re not alone at home, but you’ll still feel strength in your physical independence.
Click here to read four more great reasons to take care of our bodies with resistance training. Let’s get lifting, friends! When you stop by Katie’s website Happily Whole, leave a comment and say hi to our friend.
You can catch the entire Soul Strength series right here.
Soul Feelings: Unlocking the Messages
I’m a really good worrier.
Feelings can get the best of us sometimes, can’t they? Today’s post continues our look at feelings as messengers.
When I am under pressure, it is easy to go to the familiar ways of living that make up my flesh. Problems prompt a natural default to anxiousness. I’ve been practicing for a life time and my worry muscles are strong. In fact, I can probably out-worry a lot of folks, but I’m not bragging about that. It isn’t something I’m proud of.
Feelings carry all kinds of messages.
Years ago my husband applied for a ministry position with an organization. He found out about the job a week after our daughter left for college, and I struggled with the idea of moving far away. The thought of moving again sent me into a spin.
We went for an interview, and it seemed that God was opening the position for us. It was a dream job that would have been a blessing for both of us, yet anxiety raged in my soul–heart, mind, and body.
The inner battle went back and forth, taking my feelings on a ride wilder than any roller coaster. After a career of military moves, my emotions simply refused to cooperate. The day of our interview, we stopped by a church to pray. I surrendered my feelings, the weight of insecurity and anxiety to God, and committed to go where He would send us, even if it meant another transition for our family.
As it turned out, we weren’t offered the position. I felt like it was my fault. I felt that God had tested my faith and I had failed. I accused myself of robbing my husband of his dream job.
Feelings became thoughts. Over and over they replayed in my mind and I began to believe what appeared to be true. I believed the lies my feelings insisted were true.
It’s all your fault.
You don’t have enough faith to follow God.
You are a failure.
This was a deep soul struggle.
God used this experience to show me my need for some soul work. In all of the military moves, I did what military wives do so well, pull it together and carry on.
Over time, God is teaching me to look for the messages in my feelings. Feelings reveal what I am believing in the moment, and many of those beliefs relate to getting my needs met. I am learning to ask myself, what am I believing right now. What needs are attached to these beliefs?
Beliefs and Needs
The Feeling: It’s all your fault
The Belief: Making right decisions and performing well makes me OK
The Need: Adequacy, worth, and acceptance
The Truth: God accepts and loves me even though I struggle and make mistakes. There were many more factors at work in the decision. In reality, surrendering despite my feelings was a victory, not a defeat–regardless of the outcome.
Do you see how this works? So often, our feelings can show us what we’re really believing under the surface. We can rely on our flesh or we can depend on Christ. We can choose our feelings and false beliefs or we can choose God’s truth.
What’s behind your feelings today?
You can find the entire Soul Strength series here.
Emotions can be a difficult area of our soul. In my book, Holy in the Moment, I devoted a chapter to practical truths and ideas for processing our feelings in healthy and holy ways. Learn more here or click the image below.
Soul Blessings for your Weekend
Day 18: A little God glory for your soul this weekend. Enjoy beauty in the simple, ampoule daily slices of life. Ordinary moments lived well become...
Soul Truth: Feelings or Truth?
Truth for your soul today.
When we allow feelings to be bearers of truth, feelings become beliefs.
Feelings are not true or false. They are responders and messengers. They just are. We have a choice in what we believe. We can accept feelings as facts or we can hold fast to truth.
Truth to remember when our feelings are sending negative messages to our souls:
I have abundant life.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.–John 10:10
I am loved by God.
The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.–Jeremiah 31: 3
I am accepted.
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. –Romans 15:7
I am not alone.
…For He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”–Hebrews 13: 5
I am forgiven.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.–1 John 1:9
I have peace.
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall–Ephesians 2:14
I am God’s masterpiece.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.–Ephesians 2:10
What will I believe today, feelings or truth?
What will you?
Want to learn more about dealing with your emotions? Learning to recognize the truth about what we feel is so important that I wrote a chapter on feelings in my book. Click the link below to learn more about Holy in the Moment or check out the book page on this website.
*This post contains an affiliate link at no cost to you.
Soul Messages: What are Your Feelings Telling You?
I have updated this post. You can read the updated version here or check out the related podcast episode on processing your feelings with faith.
“It never works out.”
These are words from a sweet soul that I love–words that ring with frustration and discouragement. Emotions run rampant when times are tough. One bad moment can give birth to another and another, and our emotions go into overdrive.
All of a sudden hope fades and defeat marches in with a vengeance.
Don’t we all know this hard place?
We respond to our world through the amazing gift of our emotions.
In the moment, truth can be no further away than the nearest feeling barging into our thoughts.
Feelings are powerful.
Convincing.
Enticing.
But they are not truth.
Feelings sometimes shout and sometimes whisper, but they can bully and badger, making us think they carry truth. It all feels so real.
Feelings are responses.
Feelings are responders and messengers. They hold no power to dictate truth unless we allow them to speak false belief to our souls.
We are so tempted to respond to our merry-go-round of feelings as truth. If I feel it, it must be true.
Feelings feel true.
My kids would fall on the floor laughing at this Mom-ism that sounds so stupid…but is so true.
But feelings feel true.
And we fall for it, way too often.
I am in a season of soul work. One issue that keeps popping up is my tendency to respond to my feelings as though they are truth. Feelings bring out all kinds of conclusions, many of them false beliefs.
One feeling believed can open the door to a nasty downward spiral to defeat. It can be one short step from feeling discouraged to believing: “I can’t,” “God won’t,” “I’m not,” “I’m alone, ______.” Fill in the blank with your need of the moment.
When we allow feelings to be bearers of truth, feelings become beliefs.
I feel rejected–I think I am rejected–I begin to believe I am rejected.
I feel discouraged–I am discouraged.
I feel loved–I am loved.
The convincing power of our feelings sway our thoughts and we begin to believe the messages our feelings shout loud and long.
In reality, feelings just are. I feel good, I feel mad, happy, sad, hopeful, disappointed….and on and on they go.
Here’s the thing that matters.
Feelings are not true or false. They are responders and messengers. They just are. How much time have I wasted, shaming myself for feeling this or that. As if some feelings are allowed and others are not.
We feel is what we feel. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to feel what we feel without judging it. Without lecturing it. Without discounting or stuffing it.
We have a choice in what we believe. We can accept feelings as facts or we can hold fast to truth.
What is the message of your feelings? What is hidden beneath the emotion?
Feelings simply respond to what we believe is true in this moment. I feel like a failure. Then I begin to think I am a failure. Then I begin to believe I am a failure.
What are your feelings telling you?
More on this later.
I wrote a chapter on dealing with feelings in the care and keeping of God in Holy in the Moment. Learn more about the book here.
*This post contains an affiliate link at no cost to you.
A Free Workbook to Process Your Feelings
Enjoy a free work book with exercises to help you process your feelings in a healthy way.
