Trust in God.

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1, Proverbs 29:18, Psalm 9:9-10

Trust is defined as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something. Scripture says in 2 Corinthians chapter five verse seven, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” For the sake of this devotion, I will add a definition to trust, one word five letters, but it changes everything. That word is faith. Faith defined biblically in Hebrews chapter eleven verse one says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In order for us to truly trust God the way supposed to, we must have faith.

The author penned in Ecclesiastes chapter three about seasons. There is a time, and season for everything. We may not understand or see what God is doing, but we must still trust him. It is a hard thing for us to do. It is almost as though we are sitting in the driver's seat with our hands off the steering wheel and blindfolded. While God always gives us the chance to follow our will. If we choose his will, it is exactly that: it is his. The writer of Proverbs notes in chapter 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Let us flip this Scripture here for the sake of thought. Upon receiving the vision, I get caught up in how that vision will come to fruition, and it puts a strain on me. For example, I received the beautiful gift of the Holy Ghost in 2006, and immediately I knew I was called to preach. I didn’t know in what facet, I just knew that was what I would do for the kingdom. Since that Thursday morning service at summer camp I have racked my brain trying to make that calling work for me. Since then, God has revealed different portions of His calling to me. Every time I would try to make it work for me. After leaving Indiana Bible College I had, what I thought, to be a great understanding of what I would do for God in my life. Since then, my world has drastically changed and rearranged. I may have understood what I was to do for God, but I was trying to make it work for me, and not for him. At the end of the day, our calling isn’t for us; it’s for him. The Psalmist wrote in chapter 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." Our steps, if we are after God, are ordered by him. There is no shortcut. God may have us go the long way around to test and try us. He may have us go the long way around, like the Israelites, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. (Exodus 13:17) God knows you, but not only that, he sees the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) We must trust him in the way he is leading us. Often scripture mentions the Lord is our strength. The reason I mention here this is, to follow and trust him, we must understand he will be our strength. The Bible even goes so far as to say in 1 Peter chapter five verses five through seven: 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. This is no coincidence it is placed in this order. We must humble ourselves under our elders, and under God. Once humbled, the scripture says, “That he may exalt you in due time.” The step directly after that is casting your cares on him. We were never made to carry the cares of this world. To be effective for him, we must cast our cares upon him. I heard the story told this way: We were rearranging the living room. My son was “helping” me. He was only four years old at the time. Every time I started to move furniture he was under me pushing as hard as he could. A few times he muttered, "Come on Dad push.” I looked down at him straining so hard, but little did he know I was the one moving the furniture. Today understand, we must trust him, and we must follow him. If we take these steps, he will be our strength, and he will be the one moving the things we are straining on.