The first month of the new year is already over and we are already into Month 2 of 12 in 2018. Can you imagine that??
If you are on social media (and even if you’re not, I’m sure you may have heard through the grapevine), you would have seen the circulating memes talking about how slow January seems to be going. But, as the month rounds off I have been thinking about the idea of trust in one’s relationship with God. In order to intentionallybgrow in intimacy with God, we must learn how to trust Him. The kind of trust where you cannot necessarily see where you are going but you keep going anyways because you know (not speculate , not think, but you KNOW) that He (God) knows our future.
But first what is Trust?
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines, Trust as ‘ an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.’
What does it mean to trust in God? You know there are times we can convince ourselves that we trust in God and have surrendered all to Him. But until, we are challenged beyond our comfort zone and stretched beyond what we can bear on our own, only then can we truly say we trust in God.
Trust is leaning not on our own understanding or depending not on our own strength. I find at times that our trust in God is tested when the areas we believe we are strongest in start to unravel. For example, if we trust in people we develop unhealthy dependence on others and when they disappoint, which they will because they are human beings, we are bitterly disappointed. Nothing and no one should have such a great influence over us. In fact, the bible says our strength in God is heightened during our moments of weakness. Now, this may seem strange that a loving God would allow His children to suffer, but God lets us know that when we feel hopeless, weak and helpless that is precisely when we should come to Him. It is at that moment that our desperate need for God is highlighted. We always need God but we are oblivious that he is working things out under the radar and making things work out for our good on a daily basis. It is when things go wrong, we are forced to realize our lowly dispositions and the fact that we are but mere mortals. THEN, we are able to look and fully appreciate the supremacy of God. It’s not like the veil is completely removed from our eyes because when suffering and in pain it isn’t very easy to appreciate that there’s a strong and powerful God who is in someway allowing this to happen.
Rather, when we learn to indeed trust in God and not lean on our own understanding we’ll find it easy to submit to Him in all our ways because guess what, there is no one else we can go to and no one else that can help solve our problems and give our life meaning the way that He can. Putting our trust in anything outside of God will eventually always lead to disappointment and feelings of unfulfillment.
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40: 31 (NLT)
The beautiful thing about this verse is that it doesn’t promise that we won’t get tired or weary. But instead, we will ‘find’ new strength. God’s mercies are new everyday, for the new issues we seem to be facing each new day. Does it feel like after conquering one problem there always seems to be another issue lurking just round the corner. Unfortunately, that is the life we are in. It is full of trials, tribulations, frustrations and failures. But, fear not because God has overcome the world, and guess what we can share in the victory through the person of Jesus Christ.
What am I trying to say? Let us intentionally make up our minds to put surrender it all to God. Let us learn to trust in God. Guaranteed it is a process that will not take place overnight, but we must make up our minds first of all to be intentional and determined to trust Him, and guess what He will help us and supply the strength and resolve needed. Sometimes this will require us to ‘Be Still’ and know that He is God. Being still does not mean being passive. But the peace and inner satisfaction that we get from being still can only happen when we trust in Him.
Let us remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God to us in the past. Has he ever failed us? I mean like really, truly failed us? When things don’t seem to go our way at first, do we not always look back and see that God really had a better plan for us than what we initially wanted.
What areas of your life can we better to entrust to God even as this year progresses?
#IntentionalGrowth
Mo 🙂 x
Musings with Mo 