Over the last two months, I have been learning to be more practical in my Christian walk, making that effort to apply the principles of scripture to every day life, something I think should be the goal of every believer. In particular, I have been working on trusting God. As I reflected, I realised that I have been speaking more about trusting than behaving as if I truly believe I can trust God. I was praying and pursuing God for a certain outcome in my life but in the midst of all that there was fear, anxiety and sadness. God used a dear friend to help me to really examine myself and ask “Are you truly trusting God?” Because I was willing to honestly say “no” recognizing that I have been desperately trying to fix things myself, I was able to grow and learn to trust God more.
We often find ourselves crying out to God for answers, for change, for deliverance and we say we are “trusting” God but we are not. Keep in mind that trusting God means to have a firm belief in his reliability, his word and his ability to work on your behalf. Let’s look at a scenario to bring this discussion alive. Marsha lives with her Mom and her Mom’s health is deteriorating. Marsha adores her and as the only child she feels responsible for taking care of her. Marsha has to go to work daily and now that her mom’s health is deteriorating she is worried about who would take care of her mom while she is at work. Marsha believes in God and decides to give this matter to God to handle and to pray without ceasing about it. This is what happens in reality. She prays but allows her concerns to place her in a depressed mood, she is often thinking about the situation and feels helpless. She prays, asking God to take control but she she talks about her concerns at work often, to the point that her colleagues become concern. She prays, but she cannot rejoice or enjoy life with her friends. Marsha prays, but she begins to frantically search for a retired nurse who can come home and take care of her mom.
I see no evidence that Marsha is truly trusting God, rather I see evidence of worry and anxiety. These are the glaring signs:
1. She continually allows her mind to dwell on her situation allowing herself to be sad and depressed.
2. She feels helpless.
3. She talks about it at work often.
4.She begins searching frantically for a retired nurse.
5. She is unable to enjoy the present, to be joyful or to praise God.
All these actions are evidence of worry and anxiety. If Marsha is truly trusting God, she needs to train herself not to think about the situation to the extent where it affects her health. Every time she finds herself worrying she needs to remind herself that she already gave the situation to God and he is able to handle it. If Marsha is trusting God, she would not feel helpless and become desperate to the point that she has to be talking about it often. She would sense God’s support knowing that he would work things out on her behalf and in accordance with his will for her life. If Marsha is truly trusting God her actions would be in faith and not in fear understanding that God would open and close doors as he sees fit, there is no need to become frantic. Marsha would also be able to rejoice and continue to have peaceful, happy moments despite her circumstances.
I always love when I can reflect and see ways for me to grow, to put the scripture to the test. When you and I are obedient to scripture, life is better and we are able to be joyful even while experiencing difficult times.
Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own under-standing”. Psalm 28:7 says “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoice; and with my song I will praise him. Then there is Psalm 37:4-6, “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”
God has given us sufficient truth to keep us thinking and acting right. Practice trusting God for real and see him work things out for you.
