Sometimes, certain things in life touch your heart right when you need it most. That happened to me this week as I was looking up some information on the Internet. An image of a T-shirt popped up on my screen, but it wasn’t the shirt that caught my attention. It was the anonymous quote that was on it:
Seek God. Trust God. Praise God.
These three sentences were just what I needed to see as I am trying to live out my Lenten journey. I’ll admit, some days are better than others, but it is a continual challenge to allow myself to be transformed. Perhaps you feel the same way.
When we seek God, we are essentially saying that we are interested in getting to know God better. And God wants us to know him. He listens. He speaks. He guides. And the best way to deepen that relationship is through prayer. Therefore, we must set aside time at the beginning and end of our day to pray. When we pray, we are essentially walking with the Lord. But our eyes, minds and hearts must be open in order for us to find God. Because quite honestly, if we cannot find God right where we are, chances are that we won’t find God anywhere. So we must seek God in order to find God – especially when life is difficult or challenging.
Trusting God is one of the most challenging things for us to do. Why? Because we want to be in control of every aspect of our lives. But we’re really not in control. Therefore, we must trust God; not just a little bit, but completely. Trusting God does not mean that God will do everything for us, but that doing God’s will is what’s best for us. Trusting God is doing our part and being at peace with the outcome. No matter what is going on in our lives, whatever pain we may be experiencing, we must continue to trust and turn to God – to keep praying and listening, even when it seems like God is not answering. God will answer our prayers, just not always in the way that we expect. So be patient, because when we trust in the Lord, great things will happen.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, we need to praise God. We must praise God for what he has done in our lives, the gifts we have
received, and for the people who have surrounded us with love. We should praise God for this beautiful world that lies before our eyes. And we need to praise God for the gift of Jesus, who came to save us, redeem us, and love us. God is good to us; therefore, all of our actions, thoughts, and words should praise God who always blesses us each and every day.
This Lent, may these three short sentences guide, comfort, and transform us into the person God wants us to be. In difficult moments, seek God. In painful moments, trust God. And in every moment, praise God. Amen!
Do you trust God? Find out here.
Hello Allen,
Your thoughts and suggested prayer regarding trusting God are extremely helpful and appreciated.
Thank you, Frank. Have a blessed Lent.
Deacon Allen
Dear Allen,
Your thoughts and suggested prayer regarding trusting God are extremely helpful and appreciated.
You are welcome. It’s hard to do, but we must place our trust in God at all times.
Deacon Allen
Hi Deacon Allen. Your commentary on the T-Shirt words were helpful and motivating. The times we are living in today are repetitions of years gone by as history repeats itself unless many, not just one person, but families, communities and nations begin reaching out together to our Lord and Savior asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit as to what is the best thing to do right now. If we listen intently, we will hear Christ telling us to trust in God who has created us out of love and to love. Love God and love one another and realize we are the creatures, God is the Creator. God is in charge. We Americans have the toughest role to play because we have beengifted by our Founding Fathers all possible liberties that no other country had at that time. It is so easy for us to want to make things work for our desired good and for the good of others. So as you promoted, we need to pray daily conversing with Jesus our Brother and God his Heavenly Father as Christ often spoke in the gospels. Greg P-S