From Our Hearts

Hannah appears in the Bible during the last days of the judges of Israel when “there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

We’ve all struggled at one time or another with our ability to fully trust God. I never truly realized the extent to which I wrestled with Him over both the simplest of things, and the big things, until I had children. Yet, I would always hear Him whisper to my spirit, “I will protect them. Trust me.”

How did men and women in the Bible accomplish great things for God? There wasn’t any secret formula or bestselling book on success for them. In fact, they were ordinary people like you and me. What made them effective was their willingness to obey God—one decision at a time.

There are few things that can change a marriage the way prayer can. While I was an associate pastor, a couple came to my office for marriage counseling. After we pinpointed several areas of concern in their marriage that needed their attention, I asked the husband to commit the couple’s desires to the Lord. As the man finished praying, I looked up to discover that his wife was crying. She explained through her tears that this was the first time in ten years of marriage that they had prayed together as a couple!

Christ’s death and resurrection is a core value of Christianity. The resurrection is the focal point of every truth Christ taught His disciples while on Earth. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.

The Savior of the world certainly came to earth in an unexpected way. He came as a servant of God to sacrifice himself for us. It wasn’t immediately apparent to others that Jesus was the Messiah, the King, they were waiting for.

Jesus Himself gives us the supreme model of joy in the midst of life’s dark pain. There was probably no greater source of pain in the ancient world than crucifixion on a Roman cross, but we read in Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus, “For the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” Knowing that His suffering would result in great joy, Jesus looked toward His future with the Father as He endured the excruciating pain of death on the cross.

We live in a world of fires, floods, earthquakes, and other kinds of disasters from which people need to be rescued. Some of these rescues are performed by police and fire personnel, while others are done by other specially trained individuals. These professionals spend a lot of time preparing for the possibility that they might need to rescue a person. Their ability to do the job well can mean the difference between a victim escaping alive or being lost.

Trusting in yourself is shaky ground. Trust instead in the rock that is solid—Jesus Christ.

God doesn’t ask us to understand the twists and turns, the why’s and the how’s of life. He asks only that we trust that He is working His pur­pose in us as we live out our purpose of serving Him.

Serving, mercy, and giving: each is a specific spiritual gift, but each is also commanded of us as Christians. And each was carried out and modeled for us by our Savior, in whose steps we are to follow.

Do you ever wonder how to increase in favor and therefore increase your godly influence on those around you? Try these three ways to improve your relation­ships with people.