This week has been full of trials, both in my personal life and in my work life. As I’ve reflected on these, it’s become clear to me that they’ve stumped me, they’ve troubled me, they’ve worried me, and that they have caused me to need God even more.

I also have realized as God calls me to serve in a broken world, my need to being inwardly certain of his promises and his consistency in nature increases even more.  When I went to Hebrews 11 this week, I see that person after person that God used in his story were imperfect men and women that had the kind of faith that made them place large bets on the promises and the hope they found in God.  Paul says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Why do I need to be inwardly certain of the promises of God?  I need to be reminded that how I think of myself is not how God sees me “whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1John 3:3:20).  When I feel like the world is harsh, I need to be reminded that “everyone that has been born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4).  When I feel fear or anxiety, I’m reminded that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38).  When I don’t know how to pray, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26.)

Thankfully our faith on God’s promises means, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19)