My anthem for this year has been Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.” [NET]
I’ve meditated upon this verse and used it for self-counsel all year long, in a variety of contexts. I believe, by God’s grace, I’ve grown in my understanding of trusting the Lord, and in my obedience in doing so.
Today we have exactly 70 days left on the Race. 10 weeks. 2.25 months. The end is coming, and we are all facing the question of, what’s next?
Honestly, I’ve been thinking about what happens for me after the Race since before I even left, probably since when I was first accepted to the program. So seeking to trust God with the future is something I’ve walked through all year – this battleground of the heart is familiar territory.
My favorite passage to help explain trusting the Lord is Philippians 4:4-9. It says,
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.”
What is the first step to trusting the Lord with all of our hearts? Rejoice!
Rejoice in the Lord. How often? Always! Again and again! How do we do that when circumstances are tough? Where do we find our joy?
One, we remember the gospel. We were sinners, enemies of God, and Jesus came to not only make peace between us and God, but to secure for us an eternity of sheer bliss and utter happiness! When the gospel informs our response to the pressures of life, we will rejoice, no matter how uncertain our situation may be! If you haven’t read, “The Cross-Centered Life” by C.J. Mahaney, I recommend you do so as soon as possible. It will nourish your walk with the Lord immensely.
Two, we believe that God’s purpose in all things is to make us like Christ (Romans 8:28-29, James 1:2-4). God is so committed to rebuilding us up in his image so that we can most fully love and be loved by him, that he refines our character in the pressures of life. When we truly grasp this truth, any trial we face suddenly has an eternal purpose and an eternal perspective, and we can indeed rejoice for we know the precise intent of the sovereign of the universe! It is a part of a bigger picture as they say, but it is a bigger picture that we can see because he has revealed it to us in scripture! It requires faith, yes, but our faith is not blind! We understand, at least in part, what God is doing in every difficult situation we will ever face! There is hope, security, and comfort in that truth.
So step one in trusting the Lord is to rejoice, every day, in every circumstance!
I am now officially within the recommended 400-600 word count window for optimum blog readership, so I will end here for now and continue in another post shortly.
Thanks for reading! 😀
