Collin County Living Well Magazine March/April 2016 | Page 15

sions, others dream dreams. For some
it seems God is ever near, for others
He seems a distant shadow. I know the
pain of dark valleys and cries met with
silence. Yet I have learned even in the
darkest, deepest valleys, He is there.
Psalm 139:7-12 reminds us, where
can I go from your Spirit? Where can
I flee from your presence? If I go up to
the heavens, you are there; if I make
my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even
there your hand will guide me, your
right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
“Surely the darkness will hide me and
the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to
you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
God can always be found in His
Word. Not a single human experience exists in which the Word of God
is irrelevant. It is a living, breathing,
God-inspired document where every
answer to this life and the next can be
found. If you’ve never studied, really
studied the Bible, I encourage you to
do so. The Scripture is rich in history
as well as prophecy, full of admonishment, life instruction, encouragement,
poetry, adventure and so much more.
If you’ve had trouble diving in to His
Word, ask Jesus to open your mind to
understand the Scriptures as He did
for His disciples (Luke 24:45). It is

God’s pleasure to reveal His secrets to
His friends (Ephesians 1:9). He longs
for us to be fully enlightened by His supernatural wisdom (Ephesians 1:18).
God is not intimidated by our questions and welcomes our inquiries
as long as we seek with a pure and
humble heart. Recently, I felt my heart
hardening towards the Lord. I lifted up
my concerns to Him, shared my disappointments, and questioned His timing.
In the midst of a faith crisis, I sought to

While God answered
my prayers and my
friends’ prayers for
safety that night,
others went
unanswered.
understand what I truly believed. I was
reminded of the story in Mark 9:24 of
a man who brought his demonized son
to Jesus for deliverance. Jesus told the
man that anything was possible if he
believed. The man’s response is one
we should remember. He said, “Lord I
believe, help my unbelief.” As my faith
wavered, I begin to identify areas in
which I struggled to believe.
While searching possible areas of unbelief, the verse, “And we know that

in all things God works for the good
of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose” came to mind (Romans 8:28).
As I considered this Scripture, having
both heard and quoted it dozens of
times over the years, I wondered if it
had become a rote recitation rather
than a deeply held belief. I examined
my heart before the Lord, and realized I did not fully believe that everything would always work together for
good in my life. Upon recognizing my
unbelief, I asked the Lord to give me
a new measure of faith and to “help
my unbelief.”
Life in Christ is a journey. Our spiritual
maturity is a process—the goal in front
of us is that we be transformed into
His image. We may not fully understand our life experiences, so faith is
an essential part of a relationship with
Christ. He asks us to not only believe
in Him, but to also believe “that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”
(Hebrews 11:6). In order to please
Him, we must accept the unwavering
fact that He is good.
When we seek Him, we will find Him
and we will experience His goodness.
One thing is certain in this life—storms
will come, and our faith will be tested.
May we be found faithful to proclaim,
“God is good—all the time.” In doing
so, we will be safe in the storms.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.
To connect with Lisa or follow her blog, visit LisaJenkinsMoore.com

COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2016

13