We Are More Than We Think

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).   
 
What is God like? There have been a thousand depictions of Him—everything from what He looks like to the sound of His voice. We love to imagine what God’s personality is like. We wonder what it would be like to talk to Him face to face. We want to know that He’s not a spiritual robot that lives in the sky who never has facial expressions.

We also marvel at how all of God can possibly live in us. It sounds unthinkable, but the Word says that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11). All of God lives in us. All His attributes, all His character, are in us.  

Yesterday we discussed the concept of having a resilient heart. We discussed why it is important to search for strength in God rather than looking to ourselves for more strength. The more we look at Him instead of within ourselves, we begin to look more like Him.  

Resilience is an attribute of God. Think about how nature reflects the faithfulness of God. The earth’s seasons are always changing. The constellations are like everlasting maps. The sun rises and falls, and the earth keeps turning to allow life to flourish on our planet. All these things represent the faithful nature of God. He is constant. No matter how scorching a summer may be, winter will come and cool the earth. And no matter how bleak winter days may be, spring will return. Seasons change, but God stays the same.  

We can remain faithful because He is faithful. We can find peace because He is peaceful. We can be resilient in times of hardship because His character becomes our character. His attributes become our attributes when we continuously dwell on Him.  

When you encounter difficulties, remember that just because you can’t see the Lord, it doesn’t mean that He is any less with you. He lives in you, and He’s given you a Spirit not of fear but “one of power, love, and sound judgment [sound mind; self-discipline] (2 Timothy 1:7). It’s your birthright and His desire that you might live in abundance, but we must each choose to live under the direction and voice of our Lord to guide us into all truth.  

Everything we need is found in Him, and when we look to the One who has authority over all and remember that He has given us authority over our fears and enemies, we realize that we are more than we think.