Your relationship with God (part two)

The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38)

How do you feel about Jesus?  How would you describe your relationship with Him?  Certainly you respect Him.  Of course you are grateful for His mercy.  But how do you relate to Him personally?

Some people are frightened of the Lord.  They don’t feel worthy of His attention, Him being God and all.  They are afraid of His judgment, that their lives will be found wanting and they will end up punished in hell.  They worry that because He is angry at their sins, He won’t give them help in times of crisis.  They pray for relief from sickness, money troubles, or problems with a relationship; if things don’t start to improve, they fear that Jesus no longer cares about them.

It all boils down to trust. Do you believe the LORD when He says through Isaiah do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand? Do you trust God when He says, I will never leave you nor forsake you? (Joshua 1:5) If you are confident that Jesus really loves you, cares about you, has your best interests at heart, then you have no reason to be afraid.  If He loves you, then you are worthy of His attention even though He is God.  If He cares about you, then you can count on His forgiveness despite the bad things that you’re responsible for.  If He has your best interests at heart, then you can depend on His help, support and protection when things are going wrong.  If your prayers don’t get an immediate response you can patiently wait, knowing that Christ will do the right thing at the optimal time.

How can you be confident when life gets aggravating or scary?  The Bible says, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).  Our confidence grows when we hear Jesus speak.  His words are powerful and effective, full of grace and truth and hope.  And His words are backed up by action.  Christ said you are my friends (John 15:14); He proved this by taking our place on the cross and suffering the punishment our sins had called for.  When Christ gave His life for us and then rose from the dead, it validated every word He spoke.  As a result, you can live with absolute confidence in His promises of care.