living steadfastly today, because my God is faithful

Understanding things in life is so essential, isn't it? I mean if we do not understand stuff then we would be completely lost when it comes to just about everything. We need to understand why we go to school, understand why breakfast lunch and dinner are so essential, understand why we need sleep at night, etc etc etc. Now think about this: do we truly understand who God is? What He is like? Why He does what He does? His grace? His abilities? Because lately I have been so convicted about WHO my God really is. I want to know Him. Understand my Creator. I want to know Him so that when life happens and becomes almost unbearable, when trials come my way, when I fear things that are unknown, I can be aware of why God puts me through such trials and trust that His plan for my life is so much more than wasting my energy with such fear and panic. Understanding is a word that 'means to be so steadfast that we are prepared, that we are established, and that we are ready. Psalm 112 talks about the man who fears the Lord. Verse 7 says that (the man who fears the Lord) "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD." This does not mean that the man who loves God will never get bad news, however! It just means that he will not have to FEAR it! Think about how much energy we waste on fearing things, worrying about things, panicking. Instead of pouring this energy into real life relationships and glorifying God, we use our energy on fear. How much energy do we really waste in fearing things? Fearing work on Monday morning, feearing that test grade, fearing what people will think of the new haircut, fear of not getting enough sleep, fear of ... you name it! We get entangled in a sticky mess of fear when we "forget" to place our trust in God. How quickly we forget that God is only a prayer away. He loves to hear the cries of our hearts. He yearns to comfort us and to reveal Himself through circumstances. "The man who is steadfast is secure in knowing that no matter what happens, he does not live in fear." He knows that God is going to give him the grace to stand up in that situation. 2 Timothy 4:17 says "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." Verse 8 in Psalm 112 continues that thought in stating that the man's "heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." He knows the outcome of the situation and he will have victory over his trials. I really think that we need to have an understanding heart that cries "my heart is going to trust in the Lord and I will be established and steadfast in Him because I know the outcome, that I will have victory and glory over these problems and these situations. This is not the end." We need to hang with these trying circumstances because after this life comes glory! We only have a certain amount of time on this planet. The Bible describes it as simply a vapor. "Here today and gone tomorrow." I want to understand who God truly is so that no matter what comes my way I will be steadfast. Steadfastness and understanding brings us a LOYALTY to God! God deserves at least that much from us, wouldn't you agree? Lets make it our goal to stand on the rock in the storms of life and face them knowing who our God is and knowing that He will prove our faith genuine. How beautiful it truly is when we trust in Him; when our confidence is not placed in faulty earthly things, but in the One who made us. Even if we fall in these trials and fears, we need to have the steadfastness in God that we will get back up on our feet. Satan can never knock us down so that we cannot stand back up. Understanding is KEY in standing back up on our feet, because we understand that God is going to give us the grace to get through whatever we are going through. We understand and appreciate trials because we know that through trials come great joy and great faith in our trust in Him. We learn not to lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him... know Him..UNDERSTAND Him! :) Understanding secures us in Him. Amen and Hallelujah!