Braveheart

Courage. Face the future, but face it only with a brave and happy heart. Do not seek to see it. YOU are robbing Faith of her sublime sweetness if you do this. (God Calling)

Seems easy doesn't it? Just be brave, trust God for the future, and be happy not knowing how it will end. But how many times have I done the complete opposite? How many times have I tried laying out all of the facts, analyzing the various ways a situation could pan out, and then trying to play God by manipulating it to go my own way? It's funny to me that I try to figure out God's plans before they come to fruition. I figure God thinks its funny too because those times when I am 98% certain I know what is going to come next, I make a fool of myself. And it hurts more than the time I face-planted in Jr. High in front of everyone on the buses lined up to leave (seriously, that happened. It is top three on my most embarrassing moments, right next to when my skirt flew up and flashed the entire football team at lunch), emotional and physical pain, not to mention total embarrassment.

I have thought about it and I cant quite put my finger on why predicting God's next move so intrigues me. I think it is so that I can put my identity in it, or have something to look forward to, or maybe it is so that I can protect myself. But truthfully...you know what it is? I can't fully trust God that he will give me his good and perfect will. I am afraid that I won't get what I long for (a husband, a family, a job, an outcome in a relationship, a better position at work etc) so I try to make sure I do by convincing myself God is telling me to do something. It's as if I trick myself into settling for less than God's best for me. So in result, it takes ten times longer for His will to happen, or I miss the opportunity completely.

All The Lord asks is that I trust that he has a plan and a future to prosper me and not to harm me (Jer.29:11), and to seek first His Kingdom and all these things will be added unto me (Matt.6:33).  Not only that, but He knows the desires of my heart even more than I do, and as I delight myself in him, he will give me to me (Psalm 37:4).

I know all of these things very well, yet I still fall into the temptation to figure it all out. My human sinfulness takes over and once again I start analyzing and playing out scenarios on my head. I waste my energy. I seek His guidance more than I seek Him. But I believe he wants me to have child-like trust, not knowing the future, but completely trusting. Not critical, not fearful, but full of joy. I am robbing myself of the joy that comes from trusting The Lord, having faith that he will keep his promises, and then watching those promises take shape in my life.

Is it possible to face the future with a brave and happy heart? The answer is yes, praise The Lord! We do know that God's greatest plan is for us to be in deep intimate relationship with him and worship him, which was his purpose for creating us. This means as we seek His face instead of His hand, we will begin trusting Him more and more in the little things because he is faithful. When we get to know him, (spending time in the morning with him, praying through the day, seeking him with all of our heart), then we will just know that he's got it all figured out in his timing, and we don't have to be fearful or worried.

Do you have a relationship with The Lord that allows you to face the future and enjoy each moment in the present with a brave and happy heart?

God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future. I know the best thing we can do is always to enjoy life, because God's gift to us is the happiness we get from or food and drink and from the work we do. Everything God has done will last for ever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him. (Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 GNB)