The Challenge Series: Trust God

Written By: Candace Jeffries

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

In 2011, I traveled to Sierra Leone to meet a little boy who had a tumor on his jaw. His tumor was untreatable there, but there was a doctor in Kansas City who had agreed to treat him for free. My husband and I volunteered our home for him to stay as long as needed. Unfortunately, the government of Sierra Leone would not let him travel here. For months I prayed for him, and then I got the news that his tumor was gone. I knew that I had to meet him. Little did I know that I would fall deeply in love with him and his siblings.When I left Sierra Leone, I was convinced that these three children were mine. As I told my husband about “my three kids”, he must have thought I had lost my mind. I mean, we already had three biological kids. He hadn’t experienced what I had. He hadn’t tucked them in bed and held them in his arms. He had no idea all the emotions that were going through my heart and soul. He prayed about it and determined that God wasn’t calling him to adopt three orphans from Africa.This sent me into a downward spiral of depression. All I wanted to do was return to Africa. I spent hours a day looking at people’s pictures on Facebook that had been on the same trip I had been, constantly keeping an eye out for “my kids”. I couldn’t understand why God sent me there. I couldn’t understand why He hadn’t spoken to my husband. I couldn’t understand any of it!! Every part of me just wanted to start a home study and start the adoption process, but this still small voice inside of me just kept saying, “Candace, you can go there, but I will not go with you!”This voice is the only thing that kept me from going crazy. I knew that I would rather go through Hell WITH Jesus than to go to Heaven WITHOUT Him, so I began the process of trusting Him and trusting His plan even though I didn’t “feel” like it. It started with remembering all the times throughout my life that He had been faithful to me even when I was unfaithful, all the times that He carried me through storms that came my way, all the ways He never left me or forsook me. He had ALWAYS been faithful to me!! So, I CHOSE to trust Him, and as I began the journey of trusting Him despite my feelings, my feelings began to be shaped by Him, and I began to see what He was doing in my heart and in my life and in my marriage. He was using everything to work together for my good, even though it felt terrible most days!! And as time passed, I came to a place where I wouldn’t change a single step that I had taken, a place of deep peace and satisfaction knowing that I had obeyed and He had carried me through one of the darkest seasons of my life. I truly trusted Him!!What about you? What’s going on in your world that you would like to control? Where is it that you’re struggling to trust God’s goodness and faithfulness? I encourage you to look back and remember all that He’s done so far in your journey and keep pressing on, trusting in the One who is faithful!!Challenge

1. Take time to sit and ask yourself in what area(s) you don’t trust God (i.e. parenting, marriage, finances, job, health, etc.)
2. After you’ve determined your areas of weakness, make a list of all the times that God has seen you through hard times in the past. REMEMBER all that He has done for you.
3. Walk in the truth of who He is!

Candace Jeffries is a wife of 20 years and a mom of three teenagers. She is a pharmacist in her spare time. Her greatest joy is teaching the word of God and watching women grow in their trust in Him. She has taught women’s Bible study since 2005 and just finished writing her first Bible study. You can learn more from Candace HERE on her ministry page