Trusting God in the Storm:
Session Seven

Welcome to Session 7 of the Trusting God in the Storm devotional series with Mike Jordahl by The Navigators. In this session, you will be reminded that God’s thoughts toward you are loving and kind.

Video Points

  • Expecting bad things from the Lord shows a warped sense of who He is.
  • Expect God to be loving and kind.
  • God takes joy in those who see and acknowledge who He really is.

Memory Verse

“But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind.” Psalm 147:11 TLB

Today’s Reading

Genesis 15:4-6

Genesis 17:1-18:15

Genesis 21:1-7

Hebrews 11:11

Devotion

Holding onto Hope

Years of disappointment had passed since God’s earlier promise of descendants like the stars in the sky, but Abraham and Sarah held onto hope in the Lord. When God gave them the promise of a son and a world full of descendants, they laughed (Genesis 17:17, 18:12-15). Wouldn’t you, if you were in the process of picking out nursing homes and God told you to pick out baby furniture instead? The woman who couldn’t have children, God said, would ultimately be “the mother of nations” (Genesis 17:16). The Lord even chose a name for this child of their faith in God: Isaac, or He Laughs. People often withhold the baby’s name until it’s born, but this little bundle of hope was a sure thing, and He Laughs fit perfectly.

Sarah’s faith seems to have been up-and-down at times. She giggled at God’s proposition that she could bear a child at about 90 years old. The writer of Hebrews, however, cited her alongside Abraham because “she considered him faithful who had made the promise” (Hebrews 11:11). In the scales of importance, the object of our faith—God and His faithfulness to His promises—outweighs the amount of our faith. Even a small amount of faith fixed on an all-powerful God can move mountains.

What are you hoping for, like Sarah, that only God can deliver? What promise of His are you trusting? Consider writing down whatever you’re praying, putting it where you’ll see it, and taking it to the Lord often. He’s faithful to every promise He makes.

Questions for Thought

  1. Do you have an experience like Mike Jordahl’s, where your view of God was warped or pessimistic?
  2. How does your outlook and perspective of life change when you’re expecting God to be loving and kind toward you?
  3. Is there a human role model in your life that portrays this attribute of God? Someone you can always rely on and expect to act lovingly and kindly?