This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis [ts@godspeak.net]

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                     Can You Trust Me?

Dear child, can you trust Me when things in your life are not going
the way you expected them to go? Can you trust Me to keep My promise
to you even when circumstances seem to be moving you in the opposite
direction? Can you put your faith in Me and in My faithfulness instead 
of in your circumstances? Can you believe My word to you?

I am a God of My word; I will keep My promises to you just like I
keep My promise to Abraham and to Joseph and many others of My own,
whose stories are documented in My written word. They faced hardship,
and their circumstances cried out to them that it was impossible--
yet I did what I said I would do. I did not do it in the way that they 
expected, nor did I do it in the timeframe that they expected, but I 
came through for them. 

I will also come through for you, dear one, if you simply stand in 
faith and obey what I tell you to do. My directions may not make 
sense to you, for My ways are not the world's ways. But I am the God
of all power, and I will be powerful on your behalf, just as I was
powerful for My people throughout history.

I can and will do the impossible in your life and I will keep My 
promises to you, if only you stand in faith and you obey what I tell
you to do. Look at Abraham. I gave him a promise of a son, and I asked 
him to stand in faith on that promise for 25 years. He made mistakes 
and tried to help My promise come to pass in his own strength. I 
forgave his missteps and, in the fullness of My perfect timing, I caused
that promise to be accomplished in his life. I did it in a way that
seemed "impossible" to man--I love to do things that way, to show 
forth My glory and My strength and My great love for you. When Abraham 
and his wife were well past the childbearing age in the natural, I 
gave them the child that I promised to him. Yes, Abraham stood in 
faith and as a result, he held the child of promise in his arms; and 
I allowed him to raise his son.

Look also to the life of My servant Joseph. I promised that I would
raise him up as a great leader. But the circumstances in his life
seemed to shout the opposite. First he was sold as a slave and later 
he was unjustly cast into prison. But even in the depths and darkness 
of his captivity, I was with him. I was also at work behind the scenes 
in his life to accomplish My word on his behalf. All seemed dark and 
dreary to him in that prison, and his hope in My promise almost died. 
Yet, after years of seeming delay, I caused My promise to come to pass 
in an instant, in the blink of an eye. In less than a day, I moved him 
out of the prison and established him as a ruler over all of Egypt.

You look at your own life and your own circumstances, and you may 
feel at times as through I have forgotten or forsaken you. You may 
look at your situation and be ready give up hope of the future that 
I have promised you. It may look impossible to you--but it does not
look that way to Me. 

I know what I am doing and I know the timing of all things. I am the
God of all power and nothing is impossible for Me. I am also a God of 
My word, and I will keep My word to you, if only you will stand in
faith and believe Me.

My child, can you trust Me to keep My word to you even when things are 
not going the way you expect. Put your faith in Me, stand in obedience,
and you will not be disappointed.