We have all heard it said many times, especially in seasons of difficulties, that we should trust God. Trust God, they say, and He will come through for you. There is no doubt that we need to trust God otherwise we will fall into that pit of ceaseless worrying. For me as a person, I have long understood the fact that I have no alternative but to trust God. When we go through some life events, we tend to learn how limited our abilities are. We find out quick enough that only God can do all things. So, you learn to put all your hopes in Him and trust Him to come through for you completely. However, I also know that this is not something that comes easy. It is not in our nature to trust God completely. We always believe that we have the power to turn things around by ourselves or feel like there is someone somewhere who can change our situations effortlessly. Many times, this leads to great disappointments. The reason why we find it very difficult is because we have not really prepared ourselves to trust the Lord.
Many circumstances of life leave us depressed, hurt, vulnerable, overwhelmed and helpless. We know we must trust God, but even at that we find it difficult. We cannot just begin to trust God at the edge of our circumstances. We must prepare ourselves. The Word of God says “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken” – Psalm 62:5-6 (NIV). This is a profound statement by the Psalmist who obviously has a relationship with God. There is no way one can make statements like these except there is already a relationship with God. So, in talking about being prepared to trust God, it means before the circumstances come, we must endeavor to establish a trusting relationship with God.
Establishing a trusting relationship with God begins with knowing God. It is not knowing about God, but knowing God. To know God is to feed daily upon His Word. This is how God reveals Himself to us. This is how we begin to know God for who He really is. This is how we begin to see God as the God of the Bible, the supreme, sovereign, sensitive, kind, merciful, powerful, and gracious God. Feeding upon God’s Word is how His Word becomes planted and finds root in our hearts such that during times of struggle, we can draw from the assurance that His Word gives. His Word is soothing and gives peace to the soul amid the chaos of our circumstances. We must meditate on God’s Word to know His promises and hold on to them. To know the promises of God is to remove any doubt about the events of our lives. To know God’s promises for us is to minimize emotional or negative responses to any problems that may come our way. To know God’s promises for us is to trust Him completely.
In order to trust God at the edge of our circumstances, we must have studied and meditated on His Word in Romans 8:28 that says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Knowing that no matter what we face in life, God is working in all these things for our good has a calming and comforting effect on our souls. To trust God, is to know that He is always at work and His work is always for our Good. It does not matter what our circumstances are, God is at work and He is using that present circumstance plus all the other ones to work for our good.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” – Matthew 11:28 (NKJV). Here Jesus Christ is asking us to rest all our hope and faith in Him. This is a direct invitation from our Lord Jesus Christ to trust Him. He asks that we should come with all our issues and He will give us rest. He is asking us to draw close to Him. He is asking us for a relationship. Why don’t you heed His invitation today, because tomorrow may be too late? Draw close to God and learn more of the truths in His Word so we can learn to trust Him even more. Brothers and sisters, I am inviting you today to make it a habit to meditate on God’s Word and trust in the assurance that God will do what He says He will do. He is not man that He will lie. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
