Trusting in a Trustworthy God
“Do you trust me?”
Have you ever been asked this question? Trust is not something built on a whim, but typically, the bigger the task, the more trust that is required. For us to trust in the Lord, there has to be a foundation by which we can truly trust in Him, rather than our own understanding.
Remember His Commandments
I believe this is why the first portion of Proverbs 3, speaks about not forgetting the commandments and writing them on the tablet of the heart to keep from forgetting them. We cannot ignore the rich history of God’s love and faithfulness for His people because it leads us all to be obedient in our future.
Before we give money to a financial advisor, we want to ensure that they have a strong financial record and reliable history of past performance. Before we purchase a home, we test to make sure the foundation is solid and has a good history of weathering storms.
If the Lord calls us to place our entire trust in Him, He must be worthy and trustworthy. Throughout Scripture from the beginning until now, we see page after page and story after story of God’s faithfulness to His people and His love, mercy, and grace extended in every circumstance.
Acknowledge Him in All Your Ways
God is worthy of our trust, so much so that He tells us not to lean on our understanding, but in all of our ways, we are to acknowledge Him. In the middle of many circumstances, we often believe we have a better outcome or means that will get us to our desired end. Yet we pray that God’s will be done and not ours. We trust in Him, even when our circumstances seem less than desirable.
The Israelites are prime examples. They had prayed in Egyptian captivity for years. God heard their prayers and miraculously released them by Moses’s pleas to Pharaoh. After plagues and crossing the Red Sea, they began to grumble, believing that God made a tremendous mistake. At each point in their grumbling, God delivered.
In our own lives, can we reflect on God’s past faithfulness? Can you recall times in your life that God was faithful? As I reflect on my life, I can see God’s faithful hand working in ways that at the time seemed frustrating or way off what I had hoped. But as time goes on, I can see God’s incredibly faithful hand in so many ways in my life. As I reflect on God’s past faithfulness, it greatly eases my heart and motivates me to be obedient into the future.
In all our ways we are to acknowledge the Lord. God’s knowledge of existence is total. From the smallest molecule to the largest cosmos, God is not unaware of what is happening around us. With this in mind, God is not absent from our decisions and actions. We don’t segment our knowledge and trust in God to certain decisions that are religious or spiritual. We apply the wisdom that God gives to every avenue of our lives, from the seemingly most insignificant to the most significant life-altering decisions we face.
Trust His Plans and Purpose
We trust 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). We trust God has plans and purpose for each one of us. We trust God is sovereign and in control. We trust in the Lord’s plans above our own.
As we go about our normal lives, we call upon the Lord to lead, guide, and direct every avenue of our lives. We don’t want to trust in our own abilities, wisdom, cunning, or power, but give all of ourselves to the Lord to be used to expand His kingdom.
Mark Bethea is an associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He enjoys hanging out with his wife and children.
