Trusting God – Page 6 – The Will to Wake Up

The Next Level With God

Are you feeling tested or challenged in your faith? Keep reading for some encouragement.

The closer you get to God, the harder the enemy is going to make your life.

But I have some encouragement for you.

It might not “feel” harder.

I have an exercise bike, and when I first got it, the lowest speed was a good workout. But now, after owning it for several years, I need to have it at a significantly harder level in order to even feel like I’m exercising.

This might seem like an odd analogy, but bear with me here.

The longer my “relationship” with my exercise bike was, the more it took for me to be challenged, to grow, for the bike to do it’s purpose to strengthen me.

The same goes for our relationship with God. The longer we know Him and trust Him, the more we are capable of doing through Him. God will continue to strengthen us, and He promises to never give us anything we can’t handle. But that does mean that there will be difficult things in our lives that might test us. So we need to be prepared, but not frightened.

Our purpose in life is to do God’s work, spreading His love and bringing more and more people to faith. We aren’t going to fulfill our purposes by sitting on the couch binging Netflix or hiding our faith from others when in public. We need to be open about how God has helped us become who we are today. We shouldn’t force our beliefs on others, but we should be ready to share God’s love with them.

I’m not telling you all this to bring on the pressure or to scare you. I’m telling you this because I know you can handle what God’s going to do through you. I know that you are brave, determined, and resilient. But I also know that life can be terrifying, with all these unknowns ahead of us. Loss, heartbreak, and surprises could be around the next turn.

But so could be joy, peace, and hope. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control your mindset. If you believe that God is working through every situation, then you don’t need to be afraid. God’s got this, and you’ve got this, and together you are an unstoppable team.

So today, don’t be afraid if you’re heading into a new level with God. He’s using this time to prepare you for amazing things that will change the lives of others. You just have to be willing to accept the new challenge and remember to not stay in the places that you’ve outgrown.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

What Do You Actually Want?

God doesn’t see us the way everyone else does.

Two posts in one day? Apparently yes!

My friends know I love good analogies, so hopefully this one suits your fancy!

I was watching my dog, Rocky, who I’ve talked about a few times on here. He basically attacks us while we are eating by jumping all around, barking, and scratching up our legs, unless we give him what he wants.

We decided to get him a can of dog food that he hasn’t had in a while to hopefully trick his sense of smell into thinking he was getting the same food as us.

He wagged his tail eagerly, waiting in anticipation, knowing exactly what he wanted…or so we thought.

The garbage bin usually sits out in the kitchen during dinner and is unfortunately just the right height for him to stick his little black nose into. After we opened the can and scooped out the food, we threw the can into the bin. Instead of running over to get the food, he raced to the trash to check out that can.

He was so focused on the outer wrapper that he didn’t pay attention to what was good for him, what was actually what he needed and wanted.

I think we can get distracted by the “wrapper” in life, too.

We see the fixings of a life that appears to be perfect. We see a person that has stunning looks. We see a memory or something we are clinging onto with rose colored glasses.

God gives and He takes away. He doesn’t want us to be so caught up in the wrapper; He wants us to go after the deeper meaning in life, in relationships, and in His call on our lives.

Don’t settle, whether it’s for a person, a job, or what you think you want out of life if it’s anything other than what God’s calling you to.

God knows what He’s doing. He’s the only one who can see the future. He’s the one who planned it! And He planned it with you in mind, the one He loves so very much.

When you see a person, don’t think about their appearance, give them a chance regardless of how they look. Treat everyone with God’s gentleness, grace, and kindness.

When you see an opportunity, think about if it’s what God wants you to do. Pray about it. Don’t just go for something because you are afraid of missing out. But at the same time, if you think God is calling you to do it, then go for it! Take that leap of faith!

God’s got your back, you don’t have to stress anymore.

After all, just like how we are striving to look deep inside everything in our lives, God sees deep inside of us. He isn’t ever distracted by the wrapper. He loves every part of you, and He knows that desire, the longing in the core of your being.

And I hope that desire is to be just like the One who sacrificed it all because of His unfailing love for us.

You’re worth so much more than you think.

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
1 Sammuel 16:7

Living in the Moment

Living in the moment is the way to find true satisfaction.

I talk about living without regrets all the time, but I just want to say that sometimes you might be called to do things that seem so strange. Not classy, not popular. But it’s what you are supposed to do in order to follow God’s plan for your life. You just have to go for it, even if it doesn’t make sense.

Take every opportunity you can because you never know what tomorrow might hold.

All the wonderful things that have happened in my life were not planned. All the terrible things that have happened in my life were unanticipated. No human can truly fathom the future God has made for us.

So it’s important to live in the moment. Don’t look back at the mistakes you can’t make up for. Don’t be anxious about the future, that’s what we are commanded to do. I know it’s hard and it’s okay to have those feelings, so long as we are actively fighting against them. We cannot let fear win. Fear is only dangerous when it is given power by us.

Today make the effort to go out of your way for someone else. You might be the only one who does.

Today do something you’ve always wanted to do. You may have found a new passion for life!

Today ask God what His plan is for your life instead of praying specific things. Ultimately, God’s plan is the best one, and it’s what’s going to happen. Might as well go with it willingly than be dragged along, right? After all, He does have our best interest in mind.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

The Message We Ignore

If you need a sign of confirmation that you are exactly where you need to be, this is it. God loves you so much. I encourage you to read this and realize you are not alone in your struggles.

I’m going to say something now that you may not want to hear. But believe it or not, it could also be a message that encourages you.

Our faith was never supposed to be easy. Following Jesus does not mean happiness on Earth or that every prayer is automatically going to be answered the way we want it to be.

A couple days ago, my pastor preached about Jesus calming the storm. She said something that really stuck with me, and I thought I’d share with you.

A common misconception is that when things go wrong for people, it’s because they are not following God’s call. That is completely a lie that the enemy wants you to believe in order to give up on your faith.

“The disciples weren’t going against God’s call. Rather, they were doing exactly what they were supposed to do. That storm was a part of their path, despite how difficult and frightening it was.” (paraphrased)

You may be struggling right now about how to make sense of your current situation. You may feel like God has turned His back on you because things are spiraling out of control.

First of all, I’m so sorry for whatever you are going through. But God has not abandoned you no matter how alone you feel. God loves you and He is bringing you through this in order to make you stronger.

It’s okay to be upset. It’s okay to be disappointed with how things turned out. But you don’t have to just sit in those sorrows and isolate yourself from others or more importantly God. He is the one that can bring you back. He is the one that can heal you, restore you, sustain you. Even if you don’t receive immediate physical healing, turning to God will bring you peace.

God uses other people to speak into your life and encourage you, too. Listen to the ones who love you. Listen to the ones who want to encourage you. Let them support you when you can’t support yourself.

Because you are loved. You are needed. And you are cared about.

Every time I hit my personal rock bottom (it looks different for everyone and that’s okay), I realize that I have experienced this loneliness because God wanted to refocus my attention on what really matters.

I have been in one-sided relationships and it hurts so much. But we have to realize that when we ignore God, when we don’t allow His grace and love to be enough, we are that person in the relationship that isn’t doing their fair share. Who isn’t reciprocating the love. Who isn’t accepting the fact that they are unconditionally loved.

And obviously God has the most perfect love in the world that is so much greater than we can reciprocate. Than we have experienced. If you are reading this then you haven’t died for someone else. That is the ultimate sacrifice that God was willing to make for you because He loves you that much. You are worth saving. Repeat it after me: you. are. worth. saving.

Imagine that pain that I mentioned before about those one-sided relationships. You probably sacrificed a lot for that other person. You may have even given your heart to them, knowing that you wouldn’t get even an ounce of that love back.

But just realize that despite how much you cared about them, God cares about you a billion times more.

A lot of the advice we receive tells us to turn away from those relationships where the other person doesn’t reciprocate. But God will never turn away from our relationship with Him because He is unfailing and completely faithful.

You may have never experienced such loyalty before. That’s probably because as humans we have been taught to always put ourself first. But that’s not the way God works.

God puts His love for you above everything else. And I hope today that you can begin to put your relationship with God above everything else too.

Faith is scary. Faith is hard. But faith is the the thing that completes and establishes our relationship with God. There is no relationship on our end if there is no faith.

So today, even through all your painful struggles, remember that this is not the end. This is not a sign that you are doing the wrong thing.

Listen up. If you feel like God called you to be where you are right now, then you are doing the right thing. If you were looking for a sign saying that you are supposed to continue what you are doing, this is it.

You are beloved. You are treasured. You are loved.

Go out now and spread that message to the world.

You are never going to encounter a greater love than this.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, for whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Driven By Fear

“Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.”
— James F. Byrnes

You don’t have to be afraid anymore.

You heard me right. Repeat it. Write it on your hand, a piece of paper, your journal. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.

You’re probably thinking, “Hannah, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic right now. Remember?”

Yeah, it’s painful obvious to me. But I also have found through this time in quarantine that the quote “the only thing to fear is fear itself” is literally one of the most accurate things ever.

Fear is what holds us back. Let me prove my point.

We get angry at other people and that ruins relationships, right? It’s because we are afraid of what would happen if they won or if they didn’t get what they “deserved”.

We worry about people and end up criticizing them because of that fear that they won’t turn out right. Again…fear is the driving force behind breaking the relationship or straining it.

We don’t do things that could build others up, strengthen us, or give us new perspective, causing us to feel trapped. We regret things because we give into fear and let go of trust.

We need to flip that around. We need to give into trust and let go of fear.

Of course I’m saying that we should be careful and mindful of others. We shouldn’t just allow people to do whatever they want when they are hurting others or themselves. But we need to realize that we aren’t in control of anything except our mindsets. And if we trust God, we can have hope, joy, and peace. We don’t have to be afraid.

Fear has caused me great grief in the past. But I’m learning alongside you to let go.

Today, let Jesus’ love be enough. Let yourself realize that you are protected. Nothing happens without it being meant to happen. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.

Freedom sounds so fresh. We long for it right now. So take a hold of the driver’s seat and push fear aside. You’re in control of what’s going on in that head of yours, not fear. Don’t let fear win. Let love win. And I guarantee that you will suddenly feel a burden lift and the skies opening up for you. We can get through this together.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
1 John 4:8

Trusting God Through Everything

First of all, I’d like to apologize since I was really getting into the groove of posting regularly, just to abruptly stop even though right now is the perfect time to share encouragement (even though I believe every moment is a good time for encouragement), but especially through all of the changes going on in our lives right now with the Coronavirus. People are stressed, worried about catching the virus, losing their jobs, loved-ones getting it, and maybe even how to stay sane while feeling isolated from others.

Before I go on any further, please know that all of you out there are in my prayers. I know that many are going through much severer times than I am right now. I feel very fortunate that my grandparents in Hong Kong are okay, people are trying to do the right thing and stay home to protect others around me, and much of my family is staying employed. However, I know that is not the case for many people, and I am determined to do my part to encourage those who may have hit their rockiest time right now, and if there’s anything I can do for you specifically, let me know.

I recently saw a video from a singer that I follow, and her message was that you can say that you trust someone as much as you want, but you can never truly know if you do until it’s put to the test. You have to have that trust be put into action for it to go into effect.

For example, if your friend claims that you can tell her anything, you won’t really know if you believed that statement until you tell her something personal. Or when a little kid is stuck inside a burning building, he has to demonstrate his trust for his parents by being willing to jump out the window into their arms, knowing that they will catch him.

This virus and all the consequences surrounding it are a test to see if we really trust God.

I have noticed a startling pattern in my life. Often during my hardest times in my relationship with God, the thing that has brought me back has been when I truly had no other option but to trust God, and He’s always been able to pull through. Now, I’m saying this while knowing that a lot of my prayers have not been answered the way I wanted them to. I’m going through some situations with people that are frustrating and some of them have ended up poorly, even if I prayed about them. That doesn’t mean that God isn’t there for me.

I’m also not saying that it’s easy to trust God. It’s been really hard for me lately to trust Him, to be completely honest.

The other day, someone told me that I seemed to have great confidence in my faith. I wish that were true. I am confident that my faith has grown over the years, through difficult circumstances and through kindness poured out from others, or directly from God in the Bible. But you don’t have to be without doubts to trust God. You just have to be willing to not simply think “I trust God”, but to actually apply it in your life. You have to not only pray that God will help you, but stop worrying about it. If you are actively looking for God’s hand in your life, you will find it. That I am sure of.

For all those Disney fans out there, I have to say that one of my all-time favorite scenes is where Aladdin has his hand stretched out to Jasmine and he says, “Do you trust me?” I personally think that this is one of the most romantic scenes in all of the Disney movies I’ve seen because it shows a depth in their relationship and a true conflict that many face in their relationships.

Unlike Jasmine, who barely has any reasons to actually trust Aladdin, we have a multitude of reasons why we should trust God. Take a look at His promises in the Bible. Think about the narrow escapes you’ve made in your own life, or what God’s done in other people’s lives. We have reason to trust God through this difficult time, and others to come.

God is asking you always the same question– “Do you trust me?”

So the question is, are you willing to make the leap of faith to prove your answer?

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”
Psalm 5:11

Embracing a New Message

I want to say something that definitely came to mind for me yesterday and it’s this: God may not always be telling you the same message for every season of your life.

When you are making a decision, you often think about what has happened in the past, right? You remember that time when God was nudging you to step forward and take action. So, you apply that to this situation, no problem. Sometimes that means that you did the right thing by acting, other times it might not have worked out because God wasn’t telling you to make a move yet. Every situation is different, so you need to listen to see if God is still telling you the same message.

This concept can also come into play when picking what sort of attribute we want to focus on improving, such as trusting God, or being more generous with what we’ve been given.

Here’s an example of what I mean:

Say there is a woman who has been blessed bountifully, and she is a wonderful, God-fearing person. However, she struggles with wanting to share what she has because she fears that she will not have enough for herself. But God uses other people and circumstances to change her mind and over time she is one of the most generous people anyone has known. But once she has improved this much in this area, she should listen for the next thing God is telling her to do. If she does not change once she has grown fully in this area, then she has become too comfortable with her calling.

Our callings need to be a little bit risky, forcing us to take that leap of faith. It doesn’t have to be life-threatening, but it shouldn’t be something that comes naturally to us. Of course, if you naturally love giving, and God is calling you to give money to a family in need, you shouldn’t ignore that call simply because giving is something you love doing. God wants us to be able to enjoy our lives and when we are following His commands. What I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t expect what God is calling us to do to be easy all the time. We should be looking out for something unexpected that God might be pushing us to do.

Or maybe it’s something not unexpected, but rather something we’ve hidden deep down inside that we have not wanted to work on.

For me, I know that I have focused more on things that I want to work on rather than the things I need to work on. But what made me realize that God was giving me this message was when I thought about what I was asking for from Him on a regular basis: courage. This was something that I have and will always need, but looking over my past journal entries and prayer requests, I realized that perhaps what I need courage for is changing. More importantly, maybe I should be thinking about what areas of my life need more attention.

The word that I keep hearing lately is praise. This surprised me since I have not thought much about how often I praise God or if I do it enough. I don’t usually hold this word to such a high level of importance. But as these verses kept popping up, I realized that praise can truly change everything. Your perspective, your personality even, how you connect with God and others.

You might have spent the last two years working on seeking wise council, trusting God, or doing more with your church. Everything God tells us or God has put in the Bible for us to apply to our daily lives is important and worth listening to. But perhaps step out of the comfort zone or what you are used to hearing from God and start paying attention to the new words or messages He has been telling you.

“Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
Psalm 63:3-4

Stepping Into a New Year

“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Jeremiah 29:11

As 2019 draws to a close, so does the decade. And with that comes a lot of reflection. Every year, God seems to be sending out a different message to me, and I’m sure others can relate to this.

In 2019, a lot happened in my life. I would even say it was one of the most eventful years of my life. With that comes a lot of new relationships, grief, surprises, fear, excitement, and regret. I have said goodbye to many this year, and I’m sure that a lot of you have had to do the same. I know that as I get older, I will have this happen more and more, but it doesn’t make it any less difficult to have to watch loved ones grieve or be the one grieving yourself. This year has been hard as I have watched many that I care about make decisions that I know will hurt them later on, yet I am not in control of anyone’s life. All I know is that through all of these changes, good and bad memories, God still was trying to teach me something this year. He has also blessed me in numerous ways throughout the year, such as helping me discover my love of public speaking, giving me new people to care about, and giving me the inspiration to start this blog, just to name a few.

God’s Message to Me This Year

I will be the first to say that everyone is on a different journey, and we all are being told different things at different stages of life. But for me, I think that God’s message to me this year that I want you to think about as well is to continue to have hope and know that if I am patient, I will be less discouraged. God will never fail, and He will never stop caring.

What I want to Leave You with in the New Year

For any of you who dealt with loss, heartache, discouragement, or for those of you who had victory, excitement, and joy this year, I want to leave you all with one thing as you step into the new year.

No matter what’s to come, no matter what has happened in the past, you will never be worth any less or have failed the One that cares the most about you.

There are always going to be people who get in your way; who discourage you and tell you that you’ll never be worthy. There are also always going to be people in your life that love you like there is no one else in the world, who will always want to help you, and who are willing to listen to you. Sometimes, it takes seeking out these people, but they will always be there. If you reach out in your time of need, you are much more likely to experience God’s love shown through others.

My word to you this year is hope. Have hope that things will get better, have hope that you are the person you were meant to be and you are still growing, have hope that there is more to come than what you can see right now, have hope that you have been created for a reason. But most of all, have hope that God will fulfill His promises in your life no matter how bleak things look right now. Most of all, don’t get discouraged if this appear to not be going the way you plan. Oftentimes, you will end up grateful that they went the way God wanted them to.

With that said, have a very blessed new year, and I look forward to when we can catch up again!

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”
~Esther 4:14

Update from “The Challenge”

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”
Gerard Way

Remember that Challenge…?

So…anyone remember that challenge that I gave about two months ago about going out and doing something that would strengthen who you are? Well…honestly I forgot about it until today when I was going through old posts. But, I realized that I unintentionally did the challenge and that is something that I can share with you! If you did it or “unintentionally” did (haha) then please share your stories with me 🙂

One of My Flaws

I will be the first to say that I have MANY flaws as an individual. One of them would be not doing the things I know I’m supposed to when I know I should and then letting the opportunity pass me by. Another would be not telling people how I feel when I feel it and then inwardly allowing the feelings to grow stronger until I tell them at the wrong time or just too late. These two flaws go hand in hand, and I ended up tackling both of them last weekend.

How I Ended Up Doing “The Challenge”

First one ended up being confronting a person who has been doing things that have caused me to be upset, passive aggressive, and annoyed over the past several years. Yes, that’s a long time to not really say anything even though I gave those “nine-ish” hints. I can safely say that she is mad, but I feel a lot better because I know that I did the right thing. It was hard to say those things because even though I had that people-pleasing side that didn’t want to say things, I also have that inner fire that wants to explode once in a while when the opportunity presents itself. But the thing I’ve learned from repeated experiences like this that it’s just good to go upfront and be gentle but honest. And I’m glad that I was finally honest.

The second was slightly more difficult even though it has shorter lasting consequences. This weekend I was at a pretty emotional event and I saw some people that have been the cause of pain for me, particularly in the past year. I knew that I needed to welcome them to the space though because it was a place where they could grow. But it was so hard, and I knew that my efforts weren’t appreciated. However, I still reached out and did all that I could to be kind and make them feel like how I would’ve wanted to feel. I’m sure that they may hurt me again in the future or that maybe they learned nothing from the experience. But I know that I did what was right, and that’s what’s important. I’m not going to regret what I did.

Takeaways…

The quote talks about watching your life before your eyes and not regretting any of it. I have had my life flash before my eyes– twice. Maybe more. And honestly, there are things that I’m thankful I did and there are things I know I could’ve done better. And after thinking more about this challenge, I know that I am going to strive to take more risks, not worry as much about what others are thinking of me, and work towards becoming more of who God wants me to be, even though that’s hard. But I want all the challenges you either are presented with or give yourself to help you also become the person you were created to be. The worst thing I could wish upon you would be living a life full of regrets. I’m young and I have many already. A person who was and still will remain a hero to me focused his life on living without regrets. And I’m giving you that mission too. Do everything as though you are going to remember it in ten years and like only the One that’s important is watching. You won’t regret it 🙂

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
-Joshua 1:9

The Fear of Believing

The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith. Fear visits everyone. But make your fear a visitor and not a resident.
-Max Lucado

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I would never consider myself superstitious. However, there is this weird thing I do when I begin hoping that something will happen or something seems somewhat promising. I will think to myself, “Oh, that will never happen. Don’t count on it or believe.” Then I think that the chances of it happening are more likely than if I had a positive attitude about it. And I’ve begun to realize that this tactic which makes me think that I am safe from the grief of being hopeful about something just to have it fall through by denying the possibility is hurting me more than anything else.

I’ve been thinking more and more about it, and honestly, my mentality that something will have a higher chance of it working out by having a doubtful attitude about it is honestly ridiculous. I would probably work harder to make dreams a reality if I actually believed that they could work out. But more importantly, I’ve let this mentality affect my faith.

I’ve let this lie slip into my head a lot recently: “God doesn’t care about what I’m going through or how I am feeling.” I’m worried that if I believe that God cares, then when bad things happen, God was intentionally allowing those things to happen.

This sentence might make you a bit upset…

The truth is, God IS intentionally allowing these things to happen. To you, to me, to everyone. All that pain, all those confused feelings.

So…then why should we believe?

Because God is using those things to make you a better person. He believes that you are strong enough to fight through the doubts, the insecurities, and the pain. And He believes that those are what will bring you closer to Him.

Frustrated yet?

Honestly, it makes me upset sometimes. I feel like it takes a lot of faith to believe that God is using these rough things for a reason and that He has a plan through it all. Mostly, I wonder why God could ever believe that I would want to be closer to Him after all these hard things happen. But the truth is…I do. It’s because throughout all of these challenges, God is the only One that stays constant, who stays there with you through everything. There are a lot of people who say they will always be there for you who either move away, slowly drift apart, or who were saying it simply because it sounded right.

Have you ever noticed how you feel a lot closer to someone after they have been with you through one of the worst moments of your life? I have, at least. I think that it might not make sense, because those are often the times when you are least like yourself or at least who you want to appear as. But in reality, it’s those people who are the ones that have proven loyalty, trustworthiness, and are putting those things into action now.

That is what God does when he allows rough seasons to hit. God is proving that He will bring you through the times you thought you could never make it out of. He is showing you that He will provide even when you thought nobody cared. He is showing you that people love you, that people need you, and that someday He is going to use you for incredible things.

Are you going to end with “you just gotta have faith”? Because I’ve heard that line before…

No, I’m not going to end with that. I don’t think faith is as simple as those sayings go. Faith means vulnerability. Faith takes bravery. And faith is not something that is easy to come by. But a lie that often revolves around faith is that it is a process in which you have to go at alone. You have to somehow have that “revelation” that makes everything suddenly seem real for you. That might work for 1% of the population (or more, but no one I’ve known…) but for the rest of us, there are other things we can do to grow our faith constantly. One of those things is being surrounded by people who encourage it. Hearing real stories about what God is doing and feeling God’s love from others can definitely strengthen our faith. In addition, spending time getting to know God and journaling to see how prayers are being answered is helpful.

My final word to you

We all have doubts. We all have low seasons. I’m in a low season right now, actually. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have faith. It just means that we have to work a little harder at being brave enough to believe. Yes, God cares. Yes, God is listening. Yes, God is allowing these things to happen. But it’s for a reason. And yes, you are going to have doubts, even if you are in a season where life couldn’t be better. Sometimes those are the seasons where it’s hardest to believe we even need God. But trust me, after the hard stuff hits again, you’ll remember why. Ultimately, don’t beat down on yourself for doubts. Just remember that it’s all a test, and God is always going to be there waiting for you.

“The LORD waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them.”
Isaiah 30:18