Trust in the Lord

Because of the present concerns over the coronavirus and the precautions that must be taken over it, I thought that one thing I could do was post some encouraging meditations for my readers.  I’ll try to write two or three of these a week.  This first one is a revision of something I wrote previously.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. – Prov. 3:5-6.

It is easy to say “I have faith in God.” It is very easy to say it when everything is going swimmingly and life is not presenting us with any trials designed to tax our allegiance. But it is a thing rather more difficult, even when times are steady, but especially during the uncertainties of a crisis, to trust God with all our heart. That makes demands upon us that we may not always feel entirely comfortable with. When God says, “Give me your heart,” He is not going to be content with a passing “Praise the Lord” or a casual “God is so good to me” inserted once or twice a day into our busy schedules. What He wants is ourselves. He wants us in our deepest thoughts and longings and motivations. He above all things is deserving of our greatest and unreserved trust. Yes, we can trust Him! He who made all things for Himself, and who has redeemed us so we can share in “the restitution of all things” is so far the sanest object of our trust that to question His right to it is sheer folly. The Devil rejoices when we don’t call God our Refuge!

Here we are in the midst of a torrid world; directionless, uncaring, vulnerable, and fundamentally incapable of addressing soberly any of the really big questions in life.  And there is God, who has not abandoned us when we need Him, but who in love and grace beckons us to Himself. “Trust in the Lord.” Trust in Him is what takes the reins out of our weak hands and makes us look up. That God has given His children in Christ some understanding is true, but any such wisdom that we may have is certainly going to wear out if we use it without coming to its Author. And when we begin leaning on our own understandings and taking counsel of ourselves, or of the world, we should not be surprised if in very short order, our spiritual temperature goes down, our dalliance with the world increases, and our fears loom larger.

All of us have decisions to make, about our kids, our workday, our leisure time, our bills, and our relationships. In the midst of our daily pursuits let us maintain a strong sense of the presence of God, owning the truth that “without Him we can do nothing.” Then we shall be more prepared to bring God into any situation. If we know that the way that we are taking today is already fully known by our Lord and Master, how much wiser will our deliberations be? How many undue concerns will fall away from us?  And how much more sure-footed will be our next step?  For “He will direct,” and that, surely, is what the believer wants!

The plan of God for our lives is usually not revealed but one step at a time (otherwise why would we need faith?). Yet faith acknowledges God. Faith lays hold of Him, and knows that the next step is known to Him. May we always beware of relying on our own limited understandings.  For only the Lord can say to us, “this is the way, walk ye in it.”

Image from Servants Place