Use the Universal

Do you ever go to say something that includes the word "always" or "never," but then you pause and decide to go with "sometimes" or "most of the time?" It's because always and never sound scary. We might be wrong. It makes us doubt people, because we know, when people use always, sometimes they fall short. Those universal terms (always and never) are used much less often than sometimes or most of the time. Because people make us lose trust in those words. They don't always do it, like they said they would. They did hurt you, even though they said they never would. But, what we begin to see is that, our view and trust in people flows into our view and trust in God. This becomes a dangerous game, because whatever our trust in people looks like (which often is broken), flows into how we trust God. When someone breaks our trust, we not only build our barriers with other people, we build them up with God. Something I want to encourage you to do is, always use always with God. Don't be afraid to use those universal terms with God! Because He will never disappoint or fall short. People say always or never and they turn it into sometimes. We can't let a sinful world influence our view or trust in our Perfect God. But that pain of trust being broken, we don't want to experience it again, so we build up. Break down those barriers with God and let Him fulfill your always. We fear using the universal, because the particular is safer. So if they do let you down, you kind of already prepared yourself by using sometimes. We not only fear using the universal times, but it's even scarier to hear someone else use them. When they promise that they'll ALWAYS be there or they'll NEVER do that and you think... "but how do you know, how can I trust you?" With God, there is no question. Say always. Speak the universal truth. He is always good. Always just. Always gracious. Always loving. Always perfect. Always, always, always. Use it and trust Him to keep fulfilling it. The world has moved us to a place to fear the universal terms, even when it comes with God. When we stop using those universal terms with God, we unintentionally begin to limit Him. Obviously, don't use these universal terms where they aren't true, but don't be afraid to use them when they are necessary, when they are true. I recently shared with some kids that I babysit on Tuesday "God's way is ALWAYS better than my way." And you know what, that was a lesson for me too. That right there, it's hard for me to grasp and be ok with, because I want my way to be best. But, it's not. The TRUTH is, His way is ALWAYS better. See, sometimes if we don't use these universal terms, we miss sharing the full Truth. If we only use the some or sometimes, we can misconstrue the Truth. If you really think about it, saying God is sometimes good, and God is always good, are two totally different sentences. Only one is true. We all know it's that God is ALWAYS good. Is that easy to say? No. When life is hard, seasons are difficult, it's hard to believe He is good, but we know that He always is. Truth isn't based on feelings, it's based on facts. So when the all, always, no, or never, are necessary/proper to use with God, use them. Our feelings/our fear of using them, doesn't make the fact not true. If we did say God is sometimes good, well the truth didn't change, we just aren't speaking the truth. Use the universal. Don't let the world make you fear the universal with God. He is the best person to use the universal with.