WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CALM AND CONFIDENT IN ALL THINGS?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house
of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
(Psalm 52:8)

MEDITATION:
Do you ever get the feeling that everything is going great
for others, but not for you? Things just seem to fall into
place for them and they appear to be happy and at peace.
You may be wondering,
    “What are they doing different from me? There
     must be something that I’ve failed to pick up on.”

You take an introspective look at yourself in an effort to see what
you may have missed. You examine your job, your personality,
your interactions with others, your attitudes, and possibly your
faith.

You spend a lot of time searching but you cannot figure out what
is missing in your life. All you know is that you don’t seem to have
the same calmness and confidence that others have and it is having
an effect on your peace and confidence.

When we read the 52nd Psalm, we see the Psalmist make a claim that
he is flourishing. What could possibly cause him to feel this way? He
tells us that one thing he does is, “I trust in God’s unfailing love”. He
knows God’s love will not fail to give him confidence and calmness
in all situations.

Why? Because God assures him that He will never leave his side.
The Psalmist’s trust was in God and not in anything material.
We need to keep our lives free from the love of money and learn
to be content with what we have, because God has said,
    “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
     (Hebrews 13:5)

The Psalmist also says that it is as if he is living in the house of God.
What could give him that kind of feeling? Anything or anyone living
in God’s house would feel protected, wouldn’t they. When we feel safe,
and secure, we find that our fears disappear and we can experience
peace, joy, confidence, and boldness.

ACTION:
If we are trusting in everything visible, then our trust is in the wrong
places. We need to be looking up and trusting in God’s unfailing love.
His love is real, and we need to acknowledge His presence. God is not
some mystic being in the sky, He is our Creator and He is who He says
He is – He is God.

Do you want to flourish and feel as if you are in God’s house? Do you
want to feel safe and protected? Would you like to have calmness and
confidence in all situations? Then do like the Psalmist did:
    Turn your eyes away from the things of this
    world and put your trust in God’s unfailing love.

The Psalmist ‘connected’ with God! How can we ‘connect’
with Him too? It is the same as connecting with others, it
begins with communication. The more we communicate
with God, the more we ‘connect’ with Him. So, the first
thing we should do is, evaluate our prayer life.

How often do we pray? How do we pray? Do we offer up prayers
of thanks when we are on the mountaintop, or do we only offer
up petitions when we are in the valley? Compare the content of
our prayers with the types of conversations we have with other
friends and family, and make the adjustments we need to make.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your unfailing love.
Forgive me if I have been putting my trust in anything
or anyone other than You. I want to become calm and
confident in all situations. Teach me the value of putting
my trust in You from this day forward. I look forward to
my new life of trusting You in all things. When my days
are dark, I will put out my hand and know that You, my
loving Lord, will always be there.”

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