There once was a man who was very business minded. God gave him all that he needed to make his life and that of his family's very successful in the business world. In an instant, though, his business and all that he owned was burned up in the Chicago fire. Low and unsure what to do, he began to re-build his businesses and over the course of a few years God had blessed him once again with success. This time his "empire" if you could call it that, was even larger than before, greater than he could ever have dreamed. His family had grown by then... he was blessed with three daughters and a beautiful wife. Knowing that he had put a lot of time and energy into his business, he decided to take his family on a vacation. They would travel across the seas and land in Europe to spend some time traveling with friends. The day they were to board the boat, something came up at one of his businesses that he had to take care of before he went on vacation. Being the great man that he was, he didn't want to keep his ladies waiting so he sent them on ahead with plans to meet them shortly. They boarded the boat, he headed back to town and they were off. A couple of days later he received word that the boat that his family was on had run into an English ship and sank in the ocean within 7 minutes. All three of his daughters drowned, only his wife survived. He boarded the next boat to go meet his wife and on the ride over, the captain, knowing the distress in the man's family, called him to the upper deck. They were at that time, directly over the place where his daughters lost their lives. Feeling alone, he headed back down to his quarters, but it was then that God gave him the words to the song that we know so well "It is Well"... the man I speak about is Horatio Spafford. He made a decision that day... not only did he believe in God, but he Believed God. He knew that day, that despite his struggles, despite losing his daughters, God still had a plan and that God's plan was much better than any of our plans. When the storms of life were threatening to destroy him, he rested in the fact that God was in control and that because of that All was well in his soul.
I am challenged today to think about that. To remember that belief in God is not the same as believing God. Believing God is putting your trust in Him. It's knowing that God's plans are better than my plans and His ways are better than my ways. It's giving him complete control of every area of my life. And most of all it's believing that what He says he will do, He will do! His promises are promises... not like a promise that we give that we may or may not fulfill... it is PROMISED! No stipulations, no pre-requisites. no hesitations. He has a plan that will make us prosper. Belief in God, on the other hand, is simply acknowledging that there is a God and maybe even that He's up to good, but not really trusting Him completely to be able to handle our lives...I wonder, do we always believe God, or are we sometimes only believing IN God?
Father, You are amazing. You always know exactly what I need to hear. Help me to remember that while I wait for a child to fill my arms, you are already planning, maybe even knitting together that child. You have things underway and from your point of view, everything looks clear and the fog and storms of my life are non-existent. Thank you for always holding me right where you want me, for leading me, and for giving me the strength to follow You through the fog and storms of life. I love you so much!
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