Jesus, I pray that we would come to you this morning with open hearts and minds to what you want to sprout in us today. I pray that we would work fully as your vessels on this earth in everything we do. Jesus, I pray for the one reading my words this morning that finds themselves so discouraged and tired, I pray that they would just come to you in all their weakness and let you give them strength, Lord God. I pray that every person reading this morning would be renewed in spirit and feel encouraged to follow you all the days of their lives. Jesus, help us understand what it is to follow you, and how that is the best choice we could ever make. In Jesus Name I Pray, Amen.

Lately, I’ve been reading through Romans and truly loving every minute of it. Each chapter and verse has so much depth and meaning and has encouraged me to draw nearer to God in all I do, and this morning want to share what I’ve been finding with you. I want you to take a moment to let yourself think of the worst thing you’ve done– the biggest amount of shame you’ve ever felt. Remember those feelings you may have felt of regret, unworthiness, or embarrassment. Try to feel the weight it put upon your shoulders; the burden it may of caused you.

Life can be super discouraging; we all know that first-hand. There are things that we hope for, places we dream of going and things we long to do, and sometimes, things just don’t turn out the way we expect. Hope isn’t something that comes naturally to us. It’s like trust, it needs to be built and exercised. Trying to build trust in a rocky relationship that isn’t necessarily good for you is challenging and usually doesn't work. But when you build trust with someone that genuinely cares about you and your feelings, it becomes a firm relationship that you can rely on.

All of us have this urge and desire to get things right. We convince ourselves that perfection is achievable in one form or another, but in all truth, perfection is not a reality. In the story from our key verse, we learn through the Lord’s servant, Peter, that we’re not going to get it perfect every time in life and our relationship with God. We see failure as a devastating pitfall, but it is something we can grow through and from.

It’s such a simple thought, but just ponder it: faith is the heart and soul of our relationship with God. It is the igniter that brought us to the cross and moved us to commit to Him. It is the lens through which we see the world and the litmus test we use to turn conviction into life-change. It is a tool we use to search our hearts and the baton we must be desperate to pass on to as many people as we can possibly manage.

This past week, God has been revealing two things to me, and those are #1: Everything happens for a reason, and #2: NOTHING surprises God. If I am being honest, last week was the worst handful of days I’ve had in a long time. I faced a couple of really big trials and just like anyone else, I was experiencing a lot of confusion and anger. When things aren’t going our way or things happen in our lives we don’t understand, we tend to let that situation take hold of our joy. I will admit I did that for a while. I almost let the situations in my life win by letting myself become discouraged and wallowing in it, but then I realized something.

We cannot hide from God whatsoever. To some people, this is a beautiful thing, and to others, it’s a scary thing. To me and where I am in my walk now, it's so beautiful, but I understand from my own past experience why others would find it scary. God sees everything you do and everything you're going through before you even encounter it. He is at your right hand not to condemn you, but to guide you. When we aren’t doing the right things, we tend to view Him like a father who is going to be ashamed of us.

It all begins with an idea.