The Real Truth about Trusting God

I spend a lot of time with people throughout any given week; people of all ages, stages and places. One of the recurring themes I hear from them most often is about the ongoing struggle to trust God with their lives. And I agree! Not a day goes by where I don't have to choose whether to trust God and let Him handle the matters of my heart and life OR to trust in myself and my flawed abilities to manage situations and people I can't control. 

Trusting God is one of those “Christian-ese” phrases that is often misrepresented in the church. A lot of lip service without the confidence and full understanding in the one we are encouraged to put our trust in: God Himself.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. 

It is easy to take a familiar passage like this one and say we trust God, but have our lives reveal something different:

• Why are we so anxious and worried?
• Why do we have difficulty surrendering those things to God that we are seeking resolution for?
• Why do we get so impatient with God's timing?
• Why do we seek comfort and control?
• Why does our prayer life feel mundane?
• Why do we continue to seek after the things in this world that are not trustworthy?
• Why is obedience so challenging?

The real truth about trusting God is that it requires us to give something over to Him that we just don't want to. It may be our dreams, expectations, control, comfort and if we are honest, love of this world. Trusting God is giving Him permission to do things His way in your life, on His timeline, for your benefit and the benefit of others.

What are the circumstances in your life today that are requiring you to trust God? Maybe you are fearful of the world we’re currently living in, struggling in school, in a marriage that feels hopeless, dealing with financial stress, a health crisis, a difficult job situation, an estranged relationship, a tough decision to make, etc… Or if like me, you are trusting God with the future of your young adult children.

We need to make trusting God a lifestyle where we are living our faith out in a way that reaps the full benefits that comes from trusting Him:  peace, understanding, and purpose in ALL things. 

Why is trusting God such a BIG deal?

When our focus shifts from the unknowns in life to what God has already revealed, it is easier to walk by faith and not by our own understanding or perception of things. Easier said than done, right? What we believe about God determines how we will respond to those things in our life outside of our control. 

The following truths strengthens our ability to trust God despite what we don't know and can't see. These daily steps we take each day, produces a faith that is not just talking about trusting God but living it out in a way that reaps the rewards we are seeking! Hebrews 11:6 says, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

1. Personal Relationship: 

The main reason we should trust God is that He is worthy of our trust. Isaiah 14:24 tells us, “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” Furthermore, His plans are perfect, holy, and righteous, and He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His holy purpose. (Romans 8:28). If we endeavor to know God through His Word, we will see that He is worthy of our trust, and our trust in Him will grow daily. Trusting God does not happen overnight but is developed over time. And takes practice. It is a spiritual muscle that requires us to exercise through practice and failure.  God knows that. He doesn't expect anything more from us than He is able to do as we seek to grow and deepen our trust of Him. But it does mean that we make efforts to know Him and what He says.

What steps can you take this week to get to know God? 

2. Promises of God:

We can learn to trust God as we see how He has proven Himself to be trustworthy in our lives and the lives of others. I Kings 8:56 says, “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses.” Trusting God is a recurring theme in the Bible. We have so many examples of what it looked like for men and women to trust God with the unknowns of their life. Abraham leaving Haran, Moses leading Israel to the Promised Land, Esther finding herself unexpectedly on the throne, the disciples following Jesus without any idea of where they were going to name a few. They believed in God's faithfulness to His promises as they saw them come to fruition in their lives. And they had enough experience in their life when they chose not to trust God and the havoc it created to learn from their mistakes.  Every Christian can give personal testimony to God’s trustworthiness as they remember how faithful God is to what He has already revealed through scripture.

What steps can you take this week to get to know what God says?

3. Practice:  How does obedience fit into our lives? Obedience is the overflow of our love for God. It is a way we express our love to Him. Trust comes first, and obedience follows. When I look at patterns of disobedience in my life, it is evident that God was not around. Obedience is the fruit of how close we are to God.  From God's perspective, He allows things to happen and puts people in our life to develop a more confident and trusting faith. It is an opportunity to stop and see challenges and unknowns in our life from a place of gratitude instead of a bad attitude as to why God is allowing things to happen in a way that you don't agree or like. God cares about what we care about but He cares more about growing and maturing our faith as we learn to depend on Him.

What steps can you take this week to do what God says?

The fruit of a trusting faith is peace of mind, rest and having confidence that God will take care of things as you seek ways to lean on Him. And this my friend, is what you can expect as you change your mindset and give God permission to work in your life according to His purposes and not your own.

When you submit to God, He takes your crooked path and makes it straight.

Your job is to lean on Him.

But I trust in you, O Lord;  I say, “You are my God.”

Psalm 31:14

Obstacles are Opportunities

I’m currently facing a number of substantial roadblocks.  I’m sure you’ve been there too…those unplanned, unwanted obstacles that make for challenging days as you navigate through this bumpy course called life.

It makes me tired and weary just thinking about how I will overcome some of them. My tendency is to avoid and take the nearest exit route to find a temporary rest stop ­– a place you go when you don't want to think nor deal with what’s in front of you. Eventually though, you have to get back on the road and face the course ahead, right?

I am learning there are two ways to look at those obstacles in my faith journey.

They can either keep me from God or become an opportunity to experience His love, power and purposes as I walk through them. 

 

The question I have for you is:

What is obstructing your full view of God's purposes for the obstacles you are encountering in this season of your life?

Oswald Chambers says, “God did not give us an overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome.”

I love this reminder because it helps us see obstacles not as something negative and to be avoided, but as opportunities for God to show us how to experience the very essence of life, Jesus himself. Imagine if we embraced our obstacles with this mindset?

So how do we embrace these opportunities as we move through life’s obstacles?

Tell God openly and honestly how you feel about your obstacles. Don't feel like you have to have the right Christian response. You can wrestle, dislike, be fearful, and even angry about what you are encountering. God is a BIG God and cares more that you come to Him in your moments of distress rather than hide because you can't conjure up a Christ-like response to Him. 

Look back and remember how God worked in your faith through other obstacles you encountered.  Remember how faithful God was, how He provided for you, the people God used to encourage you, how He grew your faith as a result of that difficult season, and how He brought good out of it. What a great way to quickly replace a bad attitude with gratitude! Take a moment and shout out to God about that!

Be bold enough to ask God how He is looking at this obstacle in your path. Most likely you are not in agreement at this point. He would say, “Dear daughter, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” (James 1:2-3) I would say, “Yeah, no!” At least initially, right?

Our lives are marked by lots of attempts to manage our comfort and discomfort levels. Who of us says “Yes, sign me up for a life of obstacles and challenges!”  But deep down, I kind of do desire that, because more than anything I want to be close to God and dependent on Him for everything. 

Comfort keeps me from the fullness of God and discomfort is an opportunity to bring me back to God, to see Him do impossible things not just in my circumstances but within my life. 

Think about your obstacle today. It could be a difficult relationship, parenting challenges, marital crisis, ongoing health challenges, depression, a temptation of any sort, insecurity, jealousy, to name a few…

Your obstacle is an opportunity for you to experience God and for Him to do The Impossible. Yes, God will move you through the obstacle to the other side. But always His way and on His timeline according to His promises! 

The Impossible is exactly what He is going to do in your life and faith as a result of you trusting Him with your obstacles.  Maybe it will be a changed heart, a new attitude, a forgiving spirit, greater patience, or even a “face lift” as He changes your countenance from despair to joy and peace!

A few thoughts to remember:

• Keep your eyes on God not your obstacles. God knows how inconvenient and overwhelming they are to you, but for God, no biggie. He's got IT and He certainly has YOU.

• Surrender whatever that obstacle is to God as many times a day as you need to. It is a great practice to let go of whatever you are overwhlemed by and let God work. Jesus invites us to cast our burdens on Him 24/7. Keep the convo going with God as you through your challenges.

• Take steps to draw close to God. Maximize your obstacles according to God's purposes for your life. He wants you to learn how to trust and depend on Him, mature in your faith, and be a testimony to others watching of what life looks like with God in charge.  Our obstacles are used well beyond our own spiritual growth but become places to spur on the spiritual growth of others

• The Holy Spirit is your power source. He is your guide and will tell you every move to make on your bumpy course as long as you depend on him. 

• Find some time this week and open up your Bible to learn the endless ways God uses obstacles for the benefit of others. Observe how men and women in the Bible overcame their obstacles and what the result of that was for them. Same will be for you.

The reality is we can push through obstacles on our own, apart from God, but we will miss out on the endless opportunities to experience life that happens when we move through them God's way. Why would we choose that?

And why would we not heed Jesus words in Luke 18:27(MSG): “No chance at all,” Jesus said, “if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” 

Praying for you friend as you grow in awareness that whatever obstacle you are facing is really an opportunity in disguise!

No More Honey Nut Cheerios

This past week I have been filled with an array of emotions.

My husband and I just launched our oldest daughter, Brooke, to attend college in England for the year. Brooke and I had almost two amazing weeks traveling before I dropped her off at the Victoria Coach station in London a week ago today. She was quick to conceal her emotion by saying goodbye as if she were going out on a Friday night with her girlfriends. Me, on the other hand, knew this was no ordinary goodbye. The next time I would be saying hello in person would be 10 months later.

As much as I tried to be strong, it was evident in the bustling coach station, I could not. We said our quick goodbye and I sauntered out of the station. What better place to process all I was feeling than walking miles and miles through the streets of London. As I strolled through the lush green and heavily walked Hyde Park, I found a quiet bench to reflect and talk this out with God. Unfortunately, all I could think of were the many things I forgot to teach, communicate, educate, and equip Brooke with. My mind swirled with the what if’s and the what not’s.

After some time had passed, I felt God’s gentle voice pour into my troubled and anxious heart.

It was an opportunity for Him to teach me something very profound about what it means to launch our kids into the world. Part of letting our kids go to become young adults, is trusting God that what we might have missed as a parent or didn't quite communicate is left for them to figure out with GOD. As parents, God does not expect us to cover it all before our kids leave home. In fact, that would be impossible. But God, can and will for each of our kids.

I almost felt God’s excitement to have Brooke all to Himself this year. It gives me such peace knowing God is watching over her. He is helping her make wise decisions and extending grace when she makes poor decisions. God will use the difficulties and hardships of living abroad to develop Brooke into a young woman and teach her first hand that He will use ALL things in her life for good according to His purposes for her life.

As a mother, I have to figure out what this new season of parenting will look like having my first child out of the home. The reality hit me this past week as I went grocery shopping and passed by the Honey Nut Cheerios in the cereal aisle. This was Brooke's favorite cereal. To not pick the box up and put it in my cart moved me to tears on aisle 22. I realized there is a lot I will not be picking up for Brooke this year. While my cart may feel emptier with Brooke gone, I know half way around the world she is filling her own cart with new decisions, adventures, discoveries, and what she values in this world. As a mother, I will fill my heart with the promise found in Philippians 4:19. “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God has supplied me with everything I need my entire life, and I trust Him to do the same for Brooke!