Trust in the Lord
Do you trust me?
This is such a difficult question. In every movie and tv series I’ve seen, when someone asks this question, the stakes are high. There is danger, love is on the line, life is hanging in the balance.
The trust question always comes up at a pivotal moment in the storyline. But what about when it is your life? When the stakes are not fictional; when the heartbreak is overwhelming and the life in danger is your own or someone you love. Somewhere in the waves of doubt and fear and grief, God whispers, “Do you trust me?”
Sitting in the waiting room as my child is wheeled into surgery.
“Do you trust me?”
The handover date is looming and we don’t have a home to go to.
“Do you trust me?”
Another job application is unsuccessful.
“Do you trust me?”
Mum’s had a fall. I want a divorce. It’s cancer. There’s been an accident.
You know. You’ve been there. And you’ve probably heard the whisper. “Do you trust me?”
The verse I’ve been meditating on this week is Proverbs 3:5–6. It is well known and easy to memorise, but difficult to live by.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”
In the recent floods in our hometown, the shed where our boxes of belongings were stored was inundated. Photo albums containing 50 years of memories were damaged. I’ve spent the last few days going through the albums and digitally scanning the wrinkly images. It has been a sentimental trip down memory lane.
While many of the photos bring back happy memories, and I love seeing how cute our children were when they were small, many photos are difficult reminders. I look so tired with my three babies in my arms. I remember how hard the early years were. I remember sewing my children’s clothes from cloth remnants. Much of the furniture in the background is hand-me-downs from family members that I didn’t even like. I painted and re-covered and did everything I could to make it feel like my own.
And I remember all the times God whispered, “Do you trust me?”
When we had no money to pay the bills we knew were coming. When our children were in hospital with asthma, unable to breathe. When relationships were strained. When marriage was tough. When life wasn’t going the way we hoped.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, because back then, in the thick of building a business and raising a young family, I could never have imagined just how trustworthy God is. He never let us down. He never let me go.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Give your worry and concern to Him in prayer. Let go of the need for control and rest in the knowledge that God is in control.
Lean not on your own understanding
It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers. It’s okay if you don’t always know what to do next. God wants us to rely on Him.
In all your ways submit to Him
Obey His commands. Behave in a godly manner. Reject the counterfeit solutions the world offers and live in a way that honours God because sin and disobedience never make a difficult situation better.
And He will make your paths straight
We may not understand it at the time. Things may not turn out the way we hope. But often in hindsight we can see the Hand of God gently leading. We can see how He works all things together. We can see how suffering perfects our faith.
Right now, our world is a difficult place to live. There is bad news every way we turn. We are discovering just how little control we have, and it stretches our faith to its limits. We need an immovable foundation to stand upon. We need to surrender to a loving God who holds all things in His hands; a God who has overcome the world.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
