Fully trusting God means allowing him to take control of a situation to the point where we no longer worry about or try to figure it out ourselves. It means focusing on God and his kingdom (through prayer, singing, fellowship, reading the Word etc) rather than on the problem itself (Matthew 6:33). It also means casting down thoughts or ideas that rise up against or shake the belief that God can be trusted, including thoughts where we try to reason and/or control the problem ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Because we are used to taking care of things ourselves, trusting God can feel irresponsible and unnatural, but it is essential if we are to enter into peace and receive the blessings God has ordained for us. As David wrote, ‘blessed are all they that put their trust in him’ (Psalm 2:12).
In fact, in entering into this care-free trust – as children trusting a good father (Matthew 19:3) – we open ourselves up to many blessings. Deuteronomy 28 provides a long list of blessings we can receive when we ‘hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God’, including long life, safety, and prosperity. This is an idea Jeremiah reiterates when he says:
‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ Jeremiah 17:7-8.
Trusting God preserves us (Psalm 16:1) and can lead to salvation from persecution and trials (Psalm 7:1). It gives God the opportunity to shower us with goodness (Psalm 31:19). God also shields those who trust in him from attacks (Psalm 18:30).
David wrote that those who trust in God have reason to rejoice: ‘let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them’ (Psalm 5:11). Trusting God means no longer living in confusion (Psalm 71:1) or fear (Isaiah 12:2), and that God will direct our path so that our lives unfold in the best way possible (Proverbs 3:6). It also means we are blessed with ‘perfect peace’, because our minds aren’t troubled, trying to figure out a solution to our problems (Isaiah 26:3).
However, we often forfeit these blessings when we try to take care of matters ourselves or hope others will take care of them for us, thereby placing mankind above God. It’s to this we’ll turn to next week.
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