tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25723085.post-1145019355575515392006-04-14T11:18:00.000+01:002006-04-14T13:55:55.613+01:00<p align="center"><em>'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…'<br /></em><strong>Philemon 3:10</strong></p><p>God, in all his manifold wisdom, foresaw the problem of stress and striving that has been plaguing humanity for centuries - He beckons us to learn Trust. </p><p>In Romans 4, Paul writes that Abraham trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own (4:3), he was trusting Him to do it (4:5). In fact, it's this trusting that the Bible describes as 'gift' - sheer gift (Romans 4:5).</p><p>Paul's perspective that we read about in Romans 4 will change the way that you see the difficulties and the pressures of life. It will cause you to understand the things that God has given you that seem too much at times; the job that is too big, the team that seems beyond help, the difficult child, the marriage in despair... this is God's gift to you!</p><p>It is a mind shift to see your biggest challenges in life as gifts given to you by your all-knowing Heavenly Father - but that is exactly what the Bible describes to us!</p><p>An insightful Florence Nightingale said, 'The very vastness of the work raises ones thoughts to God, as the only one by whom it can be done. That is the solid comfort - He knows.'</p><p>Paul says if you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift (Romans 4:4). He goes on to say, if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do - as in, the job is beyond what you know you could do yourself in your own strength, or skill base or capacity - then this is where 'trusting' God and 'gift' come in to play.</p><p>Paul says that it's when we entrust to God the difficult areas and circumstances of our lives that this 'trusting him to do it' is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.</p><p>All of a sudden, I come to realise that the challenges that face me are God's gift to me so that I would be right before Him. As I learn complete dependence on God, He shapes me and moulds me and is able to work in and through me by His great power.</p><p>C.H. Spurgeon says, 'The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself.'<br />In my own life I am learning the power of this incredible truth - my challenges equal God's gifts to me. I believe that as we learn to trust back into God's very capable and gentle hands all that he fills our lives with and all that he has entrusted to us in the first place, God will do miracles with all of the challenges we face.</p><p>I am learning to see the difficulties as gifts and blessings from my Heavenly Father that I would grow in intimacy with Him and learn to rely solely on Jesus and his indwelling life, 'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection …' Philemon 3:10.</p>John Lewis - Gorsley Chapelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00657989495797534537noreply@blogger.com