To trust in the Lord means I lean upon Him; I rely upon Him: I commit the whole weight of all I am and all I need to His care. 1 Peter 5:7 says, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV) Trust should not be based on anything but God, His word, His character, His integrity, His divine attributes.
To trust in the Lord means we trust in His purposes for our lives. God is at work in your life fulfilling His good purpose. What is that purpose? To conform you to the image of His Son, to make you and me like Jesus. He is always working.
To trust in the Lord means we trust in His plan for us. Psalm 37:23 says, The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; (ESV) and Eph. 2:10 says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
The next part of Proverbs 3:5 says, ... and do not lean on your own understanding. The command to trust in the Lord is reinforced by the command to not trust in our own understanding. Isaiah 55:8 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. (ESV)
This afternoon as I reflected on our time together this morning I was reminded of Jeremiah 17:5-8:
5Thus says the LORD:"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 8He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (ESV)
What a beautiful promise we have here to those who "trusts in the LORD"
These verses present us with a contrast between a man who trusts in himself and another who not only trusts in the Lord but also makes the Lord his total trust. Linda Dillow
Trusting in myself is making my flesh my strength. yuck! When I use control, intelligence, manipulation, strategies, I am trusting in myself. Often times "trust" forces us to "wait". Waiting can be hard and painful, so we help God out. What is the result? Look back up at Jeremiah 17:6, He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. (ESV)
Linda Dillow in her book "Calm my Anxious Heart" states, "Our hearts become a desert, and we do not enjoy the prosperity of the heart in communion with God. Our focus is on what we can do to get what we want rather than on how we can trust."
Yet when I make the Lord my trust what am I promised? verse 8 says, "He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Notice that heat will come. But when my eyes are so focused on my Sovereign Lord that even when a year of drought (or continued problems) comes, I will stay green and continue to bear fruit. What a glorious picture!
As I have put these thoughts together tonight, I couldn't help but think of Heather at Especially Heather. Her post today speaks of seeing God at work in the midst of it all. I have gone to her blog purposely at the end of each day as a reminder to continually pray for her healing.
4 comments:
Hmmm, thanks I needed that ;-) My family is about to embark on an adoption to Guatemala- it was feeling overwhelming as I looked at the stack of papers and things to do to even get on our agencies waiting list. Thanks for the godly encouragement!
blessings;
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 (currently) adopted!
I needed to hear this Chris! Soooo good. I need to continually remind myself of this when times are good so that when the hard times come I'm not scrambling to find that trust but I've built a foundation of it. Very encouraging!
Chris, this is beautiful, thank you!
Kimmie- congrats on the adoption, just think of all the paperwork as morning sickness!!
This was so good Chris because I think it is at the heart of our relationship with the Lord. I know He has been working on my heart over this issue for a long time. It just comes down to giving up control and trusting that He is all He has said He is. If I truly believe that, I can rest in Him no matter what circumstances I face. And then comes that amazing peace. I'm working on it!!
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