Trusting God

How many times have you caught yourself worrying about a circumstance or being fearful of a situation? How many times have you felt anxiety because you didn’t know where your road was going or how things were going to be worked out? All of us have probably done this more times than we can count. Recently I asked myself why I allow myself to get caught in this emotional trap. God spoke a simple one word answer; trust. I wasn’t trusting that He was in the middle of my circumstance and that He already knew the outcome. It’s almost as if I feel I am not “doing my part” if I just freely release it to Him. Like somehow if I worry about it then maybe He will work it out for my good. In frustration I asked myself why was I letting such a subtle lie of the enemy have place in my life? The answer was once again simple; relationship. God moves on my behalf not because of anything I do but because of our relationship; which is not based on anything I do but on His choice to love me. Simply put He loves me and He will always work for my good. Let me say that again HE WILL ALWAYS WORK FOR MY GOOD and He works for yours too! It seems so foreign to us in some ways that He so freely loves. Everything in this world tells us that we need to earn love, to work for it, to work to be good enough, and all of these are lies! God says that He freely gives His love because Jesus has already made the way for us to inherit the kingdom and be adopted as co - heirs with Christ.

Sometimes we are such short sighted people! God sees the entire line of eternity. He knows every curve, loop and event. He has every answer, knows the beginning from the end and is always with us facing each and every step. That is the simple truth.

Recently I was reading in Genesis 22 about Abraham and his response when God told him to take his long awaited, deeply cherished, promise-fulfilling son and to sacrifice him. What was his response? As a father I am sure he had emotions roiling through him but He didn't rant, rave and scream. He didn't stomp around saying why God! He doesn’t even seem to pause, he goes and makes arrangements for the journey and even gets to the very last moment before God says stop. I was in awe of this absolute trust and I realized it was because He had an intimate, thriving relationship with God. Abraham knew that God loved him and was for him. He recognized that all that he had was from God and that God’s heart toward him was one of love. He didn’t have to doubt, worry or ask to see the whole game plan. He trusted. Simple. Not necessarily easy but definitely simple. Most of God’s answers are like this and all of them stem from relationship.

How do we release our circumstance to Him? Spend time with Him, learn and/or remind ourselves who He is and how He loves us. Acknowledge that He has things worked out regardless of whether we understand or not. Remind ourselves that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

Luke 12:32 "“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

He delights in those moments where anxiety, fear and worry rise up and we choose to push them away and say “yet will I trust Him”. The simple truth is that anxiety worry and fear are all emotion. His love for us is not based on emotions it is based on His choice to love us. When we understand that love it is easy to trust Him. Whenever we find that we are being driven by worry, fear, anxiety etc it is then that we must look to see what our relationship with Him has been like lately. We all get caught up in life and get busy and sometimes our time with Him lacks. It is then that the enemy will try to derail us by using our emotions and getting our eyes off the truth of His love. Whenever there is a lack of spiritual fruit functioning in our lives it is always due to a lack of relationship with the Father. Whenever there is a lack of trust it is for the same reason. When you are facing these circumstances step back and ask yourself who is God in this moment? You will always find that He is so much bigger than what is challenging you. He is a strong tower and is always ready to reveal Himself to you in newer and deeper ways.

“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ " - Jeremiah 33:3