"We need to be checking the links in our chain connecting us to Jesus. . ."

A thought by Christine Cane, from her book, How Did I Get Here? (p. 23). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

This is so important for us to do.

Christine says, "To keep ourselves from drifting, there are times we need to hit the reset button and make sure we are trusting God more than anything and anyone else, including ourselves. We need to be checking the links in our chain connecting us to Jesus, the anchor of our soul, on a regular basis so we don’t find ourselves drifting unaware. Then, when a crisis of any kind hits, be it a financial one, a relational one, an emotional one, a spiritual one, a career one, a health scare, or even a global pandemic, we aren’t trying to drop anchor in a storm, when all the waves are so high that they are about to overtake us. We aren’t scrambling and playing catch-up on trusting God with all our hearts."

She goes on, "Think of it this way: on a typical bicycle chain, there is a single removable link. It’s called the master link, though sometimes it is called a quick link or Powerlink. It’s what holds the rest of the chain in place. If you want to remove the chain, you first disconnect the master link. Spiritually, this is what trust is in our lives. It’s the master link. If we don’t trust God with all our hearts and instead rely on our own understanding, then we’re more likely to drift in some area. But if our master link is intact—if we’re trusting God and God alone—it makes all our other links stay in place. It makes it easier to stay connected to God in all the ways he wants us to be connected to him.

"For me, to fully trust God is to place all my confidence in him—and everything about him. In fact, one Bible dictionary defines our trust as 'a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.' So when I start spinning with all the what-ifs, or I start questioning God and his goodness, then I’m no longer trusting him. Maybe when we find ourselves drifting like this, in order to stop, we need to reframe all the questions racing through our minds, especially the ones that begin with what if. Maybe we need to drop anchor by asking one pivotal question: What kind of God do I believe in?"

She continues, "Did you feel the shift in perspective? Ultimately, placing our trust in God is a choice. There are times we trust God because of what we can see, but there are also times when we have to trust God in spite of what we see. When we have to choose to listen to the words of Proverbs 3:5 and 'trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.' I believe in a God who is good, who does good, and who is working all things together for my good, no matter what is falling apart around me (Ps. 119:68; Rom. 8:28). I trust in the character of God. The nature of God. No matter if I’m temporarily falling apart inside, and the world is falling apart around me. Nothing changes who he is (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). Not small problems. Not medium-sized problems. Not even pandemic-sized problems. I believe there are times when, in order to stop drifting, we need to go back to what we know to be true about God."

She then says, "If I do not understand something God is doing, it does not suggest a problem with God. It just means I don’t get it. At least, not at the moment. We rarely have the whole picture all at once. It’s as if we’re holding a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and God is holding the other 999 pieces that we don’t even know exist yet. We can’t see all that he is doing. But just because we can’t see all these things—just because we can’t trace God—doesn’t mean we shouldn’t trust God and should instead believe that he isn’t working."

And trusting Him is the master link in our lives and that means it is so important, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought