Chapter 6: Trusting God
An Excerpt from You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey of Self-Awareness, Peace of Mind and Joy by James Blanchard Cisneros.
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You were created in His image! Just saying this makes me feel good. Any time I even begin to think of judging another human being, I remind myself of this phrase, and I am again connected to my source. I remind myself that the true essence of every individual, regardless of how well he chooses to hide it, is that he was created in His image, that he is the physical manifestation of God on Earth. This is a beautiful and powerful statement. This single thought feels right to many of us, and therefore we are at peace with it. But I do see a division between what people believe “His image” is, and how they live their lives.
To me, the following are some of the most important questions that you will ever answer. The answer to these questions then becomes the basis of your belief system. Is God a God of love or fear, of pardon or punishment, of peace or pain, of forgiveness or judgment? These are the questions you must search your heart to answer. The answer can be that either God is a God of love, pardon, peace and forgiveness, or He is a God of fear, punishment, pain and judgment. It can be either one of those two, but not both; for what is all encompassing can have no opposite. It can only be answered by your heart, for here there lies a place untouched by this world, a place that remembers its source. This question, if asked of most people’s hearts, is quickly answered. Most people answer that God is a God of love, peace and forgiveness. Yet, if your heart answers this way, and you live your life another way, it creates confusion. Such confusion is disguised by many other names such as judgment, stress, regret, sadness, anxiety, uncertainty and anger. All of these emotions have the state of confusion as their source. Confusion is the result, when you react to love with such emotions.
You have been taught that there are times when it is okay, when you have every right to judge, fear and punish your brother or sister. When you realize that the way the world would have you live is not the way you want to live, you will search for another way. This search will bring you back to your true source. Your source is not this world, your source is God, and there exists a place in your heart that, when asked, will acknowledge this.
In her book, “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life,” Hannah Whitehall Smith invites us to trust our source with the management of not only the universe, but also of our personal lives. If we choose to do this, faith will begin to slowly dissolve our difficulties away. She says:
20 You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you? Away with such unworthy doubting! Take your stand on the power and trustworthiness of your God, and see how quickly all difficulties will vanish before a steadfast determination to believe. Trust in the dark, trust in the light, trust at night and trust in the morning, and you will find that the faith which may begin by mighty effort, will end sooner or later by becoming the easy and natural habit of the soul.
20. Hannah Whitehall Smith, The Christian’s Secrets of a Happy Life, Copyright 1999 (Baker Book House).
This text can be found in the book - You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey of Self-Awareness, Peace of Mind and Joy.
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There is another book that talks about this, it is called ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ Here is the poem I loved that was wrote in the 2nd chapter….
You are who you are for a reason.
You’re part of an intricate plan.
You’re a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man.
You look like you do for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You’re just what He wanted to make.
The parents you have are the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,
And they bear the Master’s seal.
No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you’d grow.
You are who you are for a reason,
You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!
This is a poem that I will always carry inside my heart and I share it with you all and encourage you to read this book.