God knows the future. He knows our past. God knows us inside and out. He can read our thoughts. He is everywhere, at all times. He knows the number of hairs on our head.

The beauty of the Christian life is that God is all those things and more. When we put our faith and trust in Him, we are putting our faith and trust in a mighty God. He knows the plans He has for us.

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on God’s goodness lately. I’ve been thinking how God works things out, so well. His eye is on the sparrow and His eye is on me and you.

I’ve been thinking about my son going to college. I’ve spent twenty years, raising our children, being out of the work force. When it looked like my son wanted to swim for college, my heart started panicking. How would we pay for it? He needs a scholarship. He had his heart set on a college an hour from here. He wouldn’t be able to commute, so we couldn’t save money there. In my heart, I wished he would go to a school closer, so he could at least commute and save us money.

As I quietly panicked about it all, I did manage to pray to ask God for help in this situation. In the mean time, my husband got a new car. We weren’t sure what to do with the old one. It was in bad shape. And if our son was going to the school he wanted to go to, he didn’t need the car because he wasn’t going to commute. My husband and I talked back and forth about what to do with the old car.

Suddenly, in late April, my son is told by the school he wanted to go to, he wasn’t on the team. He’s devastated. What I didn’t know, was that he quickly called the school down the street to speak to the swim coach. Come to find out, the swim coach wants to see him immediately. My son meets with him, and they’ll give him a scholarship. That will pay about 1/4 of the cost to go there. My son can commute. That will pay for another 1/4 of the cost. Now we have 1/2 of it paid for.

Now we know what to do with my husband’s old car. My son will use it to commute. Just before school starts, the car breaks down. We have to get a whole new engine. We find a place that has a whole new engine with only 75,000 miles on it. The car is fixed. We can now trust it to bring our son back and forth to school without any problems.

We never anticipated that our son would swim for a college. We never anticipated that our son could swim at a college, five minutes away from our house. We never dreamed that our son could get a scholarship to swim. That was never on our radar. We’ve lived in the same place for 22 years. Both the kids were born and raised in this house. We never saw the future of living five minutes from a college that our son could swim at. None of this was planned on our part. We would have never guessed.

But we do have our faith in the One who sees the future. He knew all along. He knows it all. He put the pieces together and guided us. As we fumble through our lives, God stands there, beside us, guiding us. He does know the plans He has for us to bring us a future and a hope.

I just got news that a famous guy in the homeschooling circles has separated from his wife and walked away from the Christian faith. The news was shocking. How do you walk away from the Christian faith? Why do you walk away from the Christian faith?

His name is Josh Harris and he wrote a best selling book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” In it, he tells Christian families to teach your kids to court rather than unserious dating. Last year, Josh Harris renounced his book and said it was essentially bunk. The hard part for me was Josh Harris walking away from the Christian faith.

I found an excellent letter to Josh Harris. https://www.christianpost.com/voice/a-letter-to-josh-harris.html

In the letter, Mike Farris tells Josh that he walked away from Christian culture. He said that the Christian life isn’t a set of formulas. Instead, it’s a relationship with a living God.

And that got me thinking. That is the beauty of the Christian life. It is not a set of rules to follow. It is not rituals, and dos or don’ts. It is a relationship with a living God. A relationship! When you become a Christian, you join the family of God. You are adopted in. And now you have a Father who loves you and cares for you. You can talk to Him. You can cry to Him. Like a Father, He will hear you. He will care for you and provide for you.

I’m not a good rule follower. In fact, my husband can vouch for it. Probably, because I’m too lazy. If I had to follow the law or a set of rules for my salvation, I probably wouldn’t be saved. I just can’t do it. But God tells us to come to Him. We don’t need to follow a set of rules. We don’t need to follow the Judiac law. We don’t need to do anything, before we come to Him. We come just as we are: sinners, unwashed sinners. And God tells us the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He makes us clean.

I love that! I love the gospel. While I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. I don’t have to follow a checklist of dos and don’ts.

I cringe inside when I hear people say what rules they follow. “I don’t celebrate Christmas.” “I don’t celebrate Halloween.” “I’m a woman, so I only wear dresses.” “I keep the sabbath.” Notice how many “I’s” are in each of those sentences. There’s nothing about God in any of them. Being a Christian isn’t a set of rules. It never has been. It is a relationship with a living God. And that is the beauty of Christianity-we have a relationship with God. It’s not about religion or rules. That’s such a beautiful thing.

I just went to a hear a speaker at my church, Rosario Butterfield. She gave an excellent talk. She talked about coming out of homosexuality and becoming a Christian. After the talk, she answered questions the audience had. She said so many great things to say, but one thing stood out in my mind and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

She was asked a question about a mother’s child. Rosario said that child was a “prayed for” kid, so they’re different than other kids. A “prayed for” kid. My mind zoomed back to the golden bowls that our prayers go into. Now we were talking about a “prayed for” kid.

A “prayer for” kid IS different than a kid who isn’t prayed for. A “prayed for” problem is different than any other problem. A “prayed for” anything, is different, than anything else. It’s different, because whatever that “prayed for” thing/person is, they have been brought before the very throne of God. The very throne of God! The God of the universe, the Creator, the great I Am, has heard the believer’s prayer. Now that prayer has been placed into golden bowls, treated as something extremely valuable. A “prayed for” anything is at a different place all together.

Never devalue the power of prayer. The Apostle Paul told us to pray without ceasing. Jesus prayed all the time while He walked the planet. The prayers of believers are so valuable, when we pray, the Holy Spirit steps in and speaks to the Father in words and groanings we can’t understand. Then our prayers are placed in golden bowls, held by the twenty-four elders who stand around the throne of heaven, praising and worshipping God. Picture that! Your very prayer, the utterance of simple you and me, go straight before the throne of God. Our prayers are often said through tears and anguish, sometimes we can’t even get the words out, yet they are placed in golden bowls. held by the twenty-four elders, who surround the throne of God. We don’t need to be eloquent or a Bible scholar to be heard. God hears all the believer’s prayers. In fact, God says He is near to the broken hearted.

So take your problems and make them “prayed for.” Put them into that special category of “prayed for.” And whether you feel it or not, those prayers have been heard. Even though you can’t see where your prayers went, or heard the voice of God, He has heard your prayers. Make everything in your life “prayed for.” Take it all to God. He tells us to do so. So everything problem or worry becomes “prayed for.”

When my son was little, he was really accident prone. Actually, all of his life, he’s been that way. When he was one and a half, he was able to fall right onto the edge of a wall and split his forehead open. It required several stitches. He’s had numerous broken bones, scrapes, and scars. I remember one time, going to a park that had a small lake in it. I was walking along side the lake, holding my son’s hand. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he just falls into the lake. I can still remember the image in my mind, of looking down into the lake and seeing the big eyes of my son looking back at me through the water. As fast as I could, I grabbed him, and pulled him out of the water.

He was terrified and so was I. It happened so fast.

Walking the Christian life feels a lot like walking down a dark hallway. A hallway, so dark you can’t see your hand in front of you.

Me: It’s too dark, I can’t see.

God: Take my hand.

Me: I’m scared.

God: Trust me, you’ll be okay.

Me: What if I fall?

God: I’ll pick you back up, keep holding my hand.

Me: I can’t see up ahead.

God: I can.

God can see up ahead. He knows the future, I don’t. Not only does He know the future, He loves me.

The Christian life is a lot like my accident prone son. We are going to fall, a lot. We are going to get bruises and cuts. Bad things will happen to us, suddenly. It truly feels like walking down a dark hallway. We can’t see what is up ahead. We can’t see our future. But God can. So those who are wise, hang onto God’s hand and trust in the One, who can see the future. When we slip and fall, He is there to pick us back up again. He is there to rescue us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He is our God. He cares for His own.

The pain we go through living this life isn’t fun. It isn’t easy. Nobody is exempt from pain. Both the believer and the unbeliever, all of us experience pain. Life isn’t easy. Maybe a little easier for some, but we all hit the bumpy read. Some people hit major road blocks.

God doesn’t take the believer through a valley. That’s not who God is. Believers do have an enemy. That enemy wrecks havoc in our lives. He seeks to destroy. When he enters the believers life, he seeks to cause chaos and try and destroy the believer.

What’s God’s part in all of this? Well God never leaves us or forsakes us. He promised that. God is not the author of chaos. He never conflicts with His own character. So in the midst of turmoil the believer experiences, don’t blame God. He didn’t do it. He’s not the author of chaos. He is our Redeemer and Friend. He is our Hope and Salvation. Give credit where credit is due. The enemy is alive and well on planet earth and God warned us about him over and over in scripture.

So, believer, as you walk through valleys. As you experience bumpy roads and major hurdles in life, look to the truth of who God is. Don’t forget. It will bring you great comfort to remember that God loves you-His character never changes. God places your prayers into golden bowls. God is not the author of chaos-but, the enemy is.

See the signs and know who is at work in your life. The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. If you’re feeling like you are being devoured-know from whence that cometh. If you feel your life is out of control-remember God is not the author of chaos. If you don’t feel loved, somebody is lying to you. Satan is the father of lies.

In order to persevere through the valleys, the believer needs to remember truths. Stick it in your mind, the character of God. God NEVER lies. God DOESN’T violate His own character. God NEVER leaves or forsakes His children. Keep these truths in the forefront of your mind.

Constrast these characteristics with the enemy. The enemy always lies. He will tell you lies about God. The trick is to keep telling yourself the truths of who God is. Nothing will stop the enemy from lying. It’s what he does, constantly. It’s your job, as a believer, to contradict the lies. Remind yourself of the truths of who God is. When we walk through the valley, we won’t feel God’s love. We won’t feel loved. We will feel as if God has abandoned us. But is that true? No, God will never leave us or forsake us. Remember that. God also says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. That’s a good thing to remember.

So believer, as you walk through the valley and you hear a little voice in your head that says God doesn’t love you, remember that’s a lie. And when you hear a voice tell you, you are all alone, nobody cares. That’s a lie. Take what God has said about Himself, and use that against the lies that will come at you. It will ease your trip through the valley.