Sharon Jaynes - Trusting God: A Girlfriends in God Faith Adventure

Plaise for
Trusting God

Reading this devotional feels like youre chatting with your best girlfriends over lunch! These women make you feel like they know youthat they know what it feels like to be you. I love the variety and short length of each daily entryyou can read one in the time it takes to finish your morning coffee! Practical, sweet, and inspiring, Trusting God will help you do just that. And by the last page, you too will have some new girlfriendsMary, Gwen, and Sharon!

J ENNIFER R OTHSCHILD , author of Self Talk, Soul Talk and Lessons I Learned in the Dark

Girlfriends in GodGwen, Sharon, and Maryare some of the wisest women I know. My friends make trusting God seem simple, possible, and attainable. A girlfriend is someone who watches out for you, encourages you, and provides opportunity for youand that is exactly what you will experience from these Girlfriends in God. If your life is feeling unstable, unsure, unreliable, or the path feels unknown, Trusting God will keep you under Gods umbrella of tender-loving care.

P AM F ARREL , relationship specialist, international speaker, author of best-selling Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti and The 10 Best Decisions a Woman Can Make

Trusting God in this world of uncertainty and economic upheaval isnt easy. We all need to learn, relearn, or be reminded daily of the truth that God can be trusted for each days problems. True to their real and relatable style, this wonderful Girlfriends in God devotional is just what you need to encourage your heart and refresh your spirit.

G EORGIA S HAFFER , licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania and author of Taking Out Your Emotional Trash

T RUSTING G OD
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked ( AMP ) are taken from the Amplified Bible. Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( ICB ) are taken from the International Childrens Bible. Copyright 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NKJV ) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( MSG ) are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked ( NCV ) are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991, 2005 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NLT ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Portions of devotional 1 in week 3, devotional 5 in week 4, and devotional 2 in week 11 are adapted from Your Scars Are Beautiful to God by Sharon Jaynes, copyright 2006, published by Harvest House, respectively.

Copyright 2011 by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, and Mary Southerland

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jaynes, Sharon.
Trusting God : a girlfriends in God devotional / Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, Mary Southerland. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-60142-394-8
1. Christian womenPrayers and devotions. 2. Trust in GodChristianityPrayers and devotions. I. Smith, Gwen, 1970 II. Southerland, Mary. III. Title.
BV4844.J39 2011
242.643dc23
2011028972

v3.1_r1

Thank God for girlfriends!
This book is dedicated to our many Girlfriends in God all around the world. We look forward to the day we see your faces and hear your voices as we sing praises to our God and King for all eternity. Until then, were so thankful that God has allowed us to do life together.
1 Thessalonians 2:8

T rust. Now thats a tough word to wrap your heart around. On the one hand, you celebrate and cherish those people with whom you can safely share anything and everythingyour hopes and dreams, your faults and failures, the good times and the bad. No doubt about ita friend you can fully trust is a priceless treasure.

On the other hand, how many times have you heard the phrase, Just trust me, only to be disappointed or disillusioned? How many times have you put your faith in and counted on a person to do the right thing only to be deflated and discouraged? How many times have those words Just trust me turned out to be nothing more than an empty promise or a primer for disaster? Is anyone trustworthy these days?

What is trust? Websters dictionary defines it this way: To have faith or trust in, to rely on (someone) to do something or permit someone to use something in the proper way, to believe, to confide (someone or something) to a persons responsible care, to commit someone or something to the responsible care of (a person), to have faith in God.

Your life may be blessed with people you can trustfriends who really do have your best interests at heart and are there when you need them. Your life may also be littered with people youve trusted who have let you down. Perhaps youve got scars to remind you of people whove held your heart carelessly, walked away flippantly, or broken their word unapologetically. It has happened to all of us. And the hurt from a broken trust can make it difficult to count on people again.

But heres some good news: God is not human. God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He will never leave us or forsake us. He says what He means and means what He says. God cares for you unceasingly, provides for you immeasurably, and loves you unconditionally. And you really can trust Him.

As Girlfriends in God (GiG), we are learning to trust God as we walk through good times and as we celebrate life-wins. We are also learning to trust God through trials and struggles like the ones you may be facing. The storms may be a bit different in nature, but they are storms nonetheless. We want to share our lives with you, and we hope the truths weve learned will help you deepen your trust in God.