“You will trust God to the degree that you know you are loved by him.”
—Ruthless Trust
Trust. Love. Trusting in his love. This theme, this theme of trusting in God’s love, is swirling all around me, constantly filling my thoughts, and always returning to the same question: does my life reflect ruthless trust in the Lord? I wish the answer were an unfailing yes. I wish there was never hesitation or fear. But the truth is, at some point in my life, I began to question the goodness of God. Past hurt, disappointment, and unmet longings, all clouded the truth of who God is.
“Let me offer a working definition of disappointment: disappointment is the gap between what I expect and what I experience. And the Chatterbox looks for ways to exploit your disappointment by filling in that gap with doubts about the goodness of God.” —Crash the Chatterbox
Disappointment, unmet expectations, longing, these are all a products of a fallen world. They are a part of this reality. It is not a matter of trying to escape these things, but rather, how will I respond when these things do happen. Will I question the goodness of God in the midst of it, or, will I trust in the love God has for me, knowing He will work things out for my good? It’s sad to say, for much of my life, I’ve defaulted to the former. I’ve let the enemy fill in the gaps in times of disappointment about the goodness of God. If God really loved you then…. or, Does God even see you? Does God have a good plan for you? These questions have been a part of my thinking for too long. But these lies, they have no place in light of God’s character. They have no place in light of his unfailing love for his children.
Our circumstances are not a reflection of God’s love for us. It’s easy to question God’s goodness and his love in the face of suffering, hurt, or disappointment. But we are called to live with a faith that is bigger than our circumstances. We are called to live with ruthless trust. Trust that even if our deepest longings are never met, God is still good and he loves me more than I can even imagine. And all things are being worked out for my good, regardless of if I can see it from where I am. Because that’s the essence of trust, believing and relying that God loves me.
“To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology in darkness.”
—Ruthless Trust
This new way of living, it’s definitely easier said than done. But God has been prompting me, gently nudging me, to embrace it. To live with a trust like Abraham displayed when God called him to sacrifice his son. Abraham trusted in the love of his Father in such a deep and tangible way that he was willing to offer his son, his prize possession. And if I want to have trust like Abraham, it means I have to offer up the Isaac in my life. So that is what I am doing. I am offering my deepest longings, my biggest dreams, my prized possession, my Isaac, at the feet of Jesus, trusting in his love. Trusting that the will of God is the love of God. Trusting that what God has planned for me is better than what I think is best. Trusting is simply relying on the truth that God is a God of immeasurable love for his children, and in that we have nothing to fear. To trust him means we believe and live by the truth that his unfailing love is enough. So, let’s surrender control. Let’s walk in the assurance of God’s love and good plan for our lives. Let’s live with ruthless trust.
