“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms‬ ‭139:23-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Whether you have participated in the performing arts as an artist or a spectator, I feel sure you’ve heard someone doing a sound check on a microphone. It’s always important to test the connection.

There are many ways to communicate with the Lord… prayer, scripture study, singing in worship, or even just standing by the ocean listening for His counsel. Regardless of how that communication is happening, it’s vital that it happen frequently.

That connection must continually be tested and strengthened, because WE are certainly going to be tested. When we are, how we walk through it will depend on the strength of the connection.

All too often we are so afraid of losing things and people, we fail to trust those things to God. We frequently have more faith in our strength than His. We refuse to wait for His timing to play out, taking matters into our own hands and forcing the outcomes we want.

Think back on a time when you chose to make your own move to get what you wanted, instead of taking time to allow God to develop the circumstances at His pace. You’ll recognize those times by the trouble and stress that came as a result of those choices.

We become so desperate to hold on to our wants, we find multiple ways to justify actions that are made based on our strength over our faith in where we obtain our strength.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Consider the things you spend your mental energy managing. Do you follow God’s direction and think on what is good and pure? Or do you spend your time focusing on any and every negative thing that rolls into your head, assuming and waiting for the worst at every turn?

How is this living by faith? We have been assured that everything we need can (and should) be found in God. When we make choices based on fear, we are not making choices based on faith.

That isn’t what I want for myself, and it’s far less than my Heavenly Father deserves from me. I don’t want to walk in fear. That doesn’t mean fear won’t come. It means I won’t allow it to remain.

I will choose to continually test my connection with the Lord through prayer, by making time to spend with His word, and by making time for fellowship with other believers.

I’ve come to understand that in any relationship, we must show up and participate in nurturing that connection. If we choose to let it fall by the wayside, never putting true time and effort into it, it WILL diminish and lose power.

Our relationship with God is no different, though I believe it IS the most significant and important one we have. If our efforts all go towards keeping our earthly circumstances the way we desire, how much of our relationship with God are we choosing to sacrifice the name of those efforts?

Now, more than ever before, we must take an honest look at our actions, our thoughts, and our choices. We must take them captive and begin to truly hand them over to God.

One thing I know for sure is that the only time I ever feel true peace and rest is when I follow the path of real faith and trust. The only time I ever feel completely free is when my faith is in God and not myself.

Every day, choose to test your connection… testing, one, two, three, testing…