How to Know God and Trust Him

Dear Sisters,
I must confess to you that each week when I write to you, I am not quite sure what I will say. I lean heavily on the LORD for His direction. I cannot tell you how "unfit" I feel to be writing to you all each week. Most of what I share with you are things that I am just learning myself. I have "not arrived" so to speak. So why do I keep on writing? Well, I have another confession. My main goal in writing is to get you into the Word of God. Yes, that is the foundation of my writing to you all each week. I just love God's Word, and it has changed my life more than I can say; so I have this "ache," I guess you might say, to help other Christian women draw deeply from the Word that the LORD might change their lives, too. I have fallen in love with Jesus, and I have found that I share with Him a love for His Chosen Women.
I do a lot of reading. Mostly non-fiction. One of my favorite types of literature is actual accounts. Presently I am reading the actual log of Christopher Colombus when he discovered America. Fascinating. By the time I finish this log, I will have a better idea of who Christopher Colombus was. Better than if I had read an account of his life by some other writer. Why? Because I am reading his actual writings and thoughts as they occurred. I am getting to know the man by his written words.
Another book I found so fascinating was "Lincoln's Unknown Private Life" by Lloyd Ostendorf. It is an oral history of Mariah Vance, Lincoln's black housekeeper, as told personally to Adah Sutton when she was a young woman. Adah transcribed Mariah's actual words about working for Lincoln for ten years prior to his presidency. Fascinating reading. By the time I finished the book, I knew Mariah very well, and I had a much better picture of Abraham Lincoln. (Who was a gem of a man, I might add.) Mariah is a beautiful woman that I look forward to meeting in heaven. I am so thankful to read her knowledgeable words about one of our presidents.
Sometimes I will have a woman come up to me and ask, "Are you Laine?" Then they will tell me that they're on my list. The first thing we usually do is hug. Why? We are really strangers to one another up until this meeting. But because they have read my letters, they tell me that they feel like we are best friends. I am very humbled and honored at the same time. They know me from my words.
Can you tell where I am going with this train of thought? ~Smile~ The Bible is God's Word. It is His thoughts and revelations of Himself. It is His Love Letter to us. It is the most important Book we will ever own and ever read. Each time I read it, I know a little more about my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. And that intimate knowledge changes me in more ways than I can say. His Word hugs me to Himself.
"You will keep in perfect peace 'her' whose mind is stayed on You, because 'she' trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3
It is the intimate knowledge of knowing the LORD personally, and that He can do everything and anything (what a Father, yes!), and trusting Him to do what is best in each and every circumstance, which molds me into the woman He desires me to be. The more I know of Him, the more I want to know of Him. The more I love Him, the more I want to love Him more. Can you see why this is the first and foremost command? "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength."
You see, a lot of people and circumstances are going to come through our lives. But there is one constant Faithful One Who will not let us go. How we need to be clinging to Him and loving Him first and foremost. He will always, always be there! We may not always have our husband. We may not always have our children. We may not always have our friends and family. But we will always have Jesus, Who said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." It is knowing God's Word and leaning against it that brings such peace and perseverance to my daily living.
My days are so much better than they use to be. I don't fret as much as I use to. I definitely don't get as mad as I use to. I don't yell as much as I use to either. ~Smile~ Why? What incredible force could bring about this inner change in my heart? Ahhh, I can say without a doubt, it is the magnificent working of the Holy Spirit. The more I relinquished to Him, the more He could work in me for His good will. And I couldn't relinquish myself fully to Someone I did not know, could I? Therefore, the power that began to work in me when I first believed began to work even more fully in me when I opened His Word to know Him better. The more I knew of Him, the more I knew that He could be trusted. The more I knew that He could be trusted, the more of myself I relinquished to Him. Then the more I could agree with the old saying, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it forever." It is a belief that begins in the heart, settles in the mind, and transforms the one believing. "Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:7b-8
Every morning in His Word I am being trained. Not just for this life. Oh, more, much more than that. For the life to come! Eternal life with the Father and His Son. So you see, The Word is vital. Both for this life, and for the life to come. No wonder it is called the eternal Word of God that will never cease to be. The Bread of Life for my heart. Living Water for my soul. Without it, I would surely die. With it, I am living as He intended me to live when He created me. His joy is my strength!
Is it possible to be at rest and quiet in your soul while being trained in all godliness? Without a doubt. This is so when "the head" is focused on Jesus, and "the hands and feet" are moving in unison alongside of Him. The hands and feet will only move this way if the mind is first trained "to stay on Him and to trust Him."
"Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother." Psalm 131:2
As I have said earlier, I have not arrived. But praise God, I do know that I am going forward bit by bit instead of backward. I will not please everyone as I go through my life. I will let others down, even though I try my best not to. My house will not be the cleanest on the block. ~Smile~ I will fall and need my Father's Hand to draw me to my feet time and time again. But I pray, oh, I pray, that I might love my LORD with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength; and I pray, oh, I pray, that I might love others with the awesome love He has. Love that pours out her life for the One Who died that she might live.
That Love has changed my life. That Love is why I write to you each week. That Love can take a weak vessel, such as myself, and pour His Love through me to you all each week. Most of you I will never meet until we are in Heaven together, yet each week I cannot help but get excited over what I will share with you from His Word. His awesome Love has drawn us together. The Father loves you and I so much. Jesus is the perfect definition of love. How do I know? Oh, I've read it over and over in His Word!
Love,
Laine