Finding Strength in Reliance

Cast all of your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. -1 Peter 5:7

Hey guys! Lauren here! It's been a busy 5 and a half months since arriving in Thailand. Paris and I jumped straight into teaching English with the team here at Outpour Movement, and last month we launched our own English program called SucSeed. I feel the need to list off all the things we've been doing since we got to Mae Sot in order to explain why we haven't been blogging, regularly sending out updates, or staying in contact with all the people we care about, but in the end they would all be excuses. We have been busy, but who hasn't?

I've noticed that my lack of consistency in all those things has run parallel with my lack of reliance on the Father. Isn't it interesting that the further we are away from God the more we believe we must carry the weight of the world on our shoulders? But God sent his son to save the world, to bear the brunt of our burdens and save us from sin; we are set free from the bondage of human expectation and fleshly desires when we trust in Jesus. It's that simple: trust Him.

...the further we are away from God the more we believe we must carry the weight of the world on our shoulders..

However, trust is a process right? Simply saying "Trust Him!" isn't going to make you really trust God. Luckily Jesus came to Earth and experienced a human existence to learn that it isn't that simple. Time and time again we're going to fail, fall and have to find a way to get back up again. God's grace encompasses our journey's forward, but it especially covers us when that journey starts heading backward. Thankfully, every time I've fallen I've turned to the Lord and he's guided me back toward the path he laid out for my life.
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With all that said, my point is that I'm going to fail, you're going to fail, but the way in which we fail and how we respond to that failure is ultimately what will define us. God has an abundance of love and forgiveness for his children, but more often than not we just don't have enough for ourselves. Whether you're trying something for the first time or the hundredth, remember that your attempt, your process, is more important than the product or lack thereof. Keep trying, keep going, don't give up!