Taste and See

This Sabbath's sermon was undoubtedly a confirmation of the message God's been trying to tell me for a while now. I've written in the past about how worry is a faith-killer and how I felt that I really needed to learn to trust God more and let go of my burdens. Then, I read the same message in a devotional from The Surrendered Life which challenged me to commit Matthew 6:25-27 to memory, " Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" It's just been coming at me from all directions! And then Sabbath comes around, and the Pastor begins to ask us how hungry and thirsty we are for righteousness? "Is your thirst quite like a tall ice-cold drink of water on a ridiculously hot Texas day after you haven't had any water for hours upon hours?" he implied. Sadly, I don't feel like I reach that standard of thirst for righteousness. Suddenly, this message explained everything I've been feeling for months. If you're feeling like your spiritual life is stagnant and you miss the closeness you once felt with God, read on. Rekindle the fire!

There was a point in my life where I was on a spiritual high. I trusted God fully for everything, enjoyed every second in His presence, and simply couldn't get enough of Him. I was on fire. Then life happened. I started to take back control of everything I had surrendered to Jesus. What could've caused me to do something so stupid is beyond me but it happened. What could possibly make me think that my challenges, problems, and insecurities were better off in my hands is a mystery. And that's how it happened. I was no longer fully satisfied or filled in my spiritual walk. Now I know why. Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." But what is righteousness? Doing good things, not breaking the law, straying away from sin, yada yada yada? Jeremiah 23:6 defines just that in a messianic Old Testament prophecy, "Now this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord our RIGHTEOUSNESS." In other words, Jesus=Righteousness. If Jesus equals righteousness then our hunger and thirst is not for a thing but for a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. When we seek Jesus, when we hunger and thirst for the beautiful person of Jesus, we are filled. More so, Psalm 34:8 says this, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him."  When we get just a taste of Jesus, we are hooked. But how do we get a true taste and flavor what Jesus is all about? "Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." Well by trusting of course! It's all about trust. I know trust is an easy word to throw around but Proverbs 3:5 explains just how trust happens. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." Trusting requires a surrender of the self; It requires us to acknowledge that we do not know it all, but God does. It forces us to say "I don't know why this is happening, I don't know why I should do this, and I don't know how this will turn out BUT, I trust You." We can taste and see that the Lord is good as we learn to trust Him with all our life. I promise you will not be disappointed. God is never late to fulfill his promises.

I'm learning to let go and let God. As my load gets lighter, I can once again taste the sweetness of my Jesus. Awhh how I've missed You! 

dress: vintage thrifted, tights: target, heels: DKNY via opitz

Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD,