Do You Trust Me?

 It's tough. You don't have to tell me. Many of us have been there and the rest of us will be at some point or another. We're talking about trusting God through the toughest and most defining moment of life and our walk with him. For me, the experience had me question "Does God even exist?". "Am I just waiting for fiery judgement and being tormented in the process?". It had me saying things like, "I am hopeless. I can never change." "God have you left me?" Can I tell you that it is in these defining moments that we truly discover who we are, Who God is and who we are to Him?. We discover that our weakness, emptiness and lack of knowledge is a good thing. We truly humble ourselves to the truth that we simply CANNOT do life without God. If we attempt to do anything without Him it's basically suicide. 

It's no mistake that the word of God says in John 15:5 KJV "...for without me you can do nothing." If we can do literally nothing apart from God then what are we really doing when we refuse to allow Him to direct our lives? I know trusting God is not easy. In other words, exercising faith takes courage beyond our human abilities. Even to trust God takes something outside of ourselves. To establish this, and to actually help us learn to trust Him, there are moments when He has us "sit still" and let Him work. In my experience, when I questioned Him about a situation I know He spoke to me about He said, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path." Proverbs 3:5,6 KJV

Not something I want to hear when I need answers like yesterday. I'm the type that loves to know details. Please tell me how, who, where, when, time, place, day, weather etc. The more details you can give me all the better. I thrive on details. But God has a way of bringing us to distrust ourselves, our abilities, our intelligence an let HIM work without our interference. The very thing that we know we need to do, trust God more, is the very thing we sabotage when God is taking us through the process. It is vital  in building our faith in God. We should never want to shortcut this process. The quicker we adhere, the faster God can work. I believe that God does not necessarily want to wait years to work for us but it's the fact that we keep shortcutting the process or trying to help God that makes us "go around the same mountain" over and over. If we don't learn the lesson we will have to go through another process in order to learn it. Doing it this way wastes a lot of time. Wouldn't we rather get on board and not lose anymore time than to resist what God is doing because we think we know better?

In the mean time life is passing us by and then we find ourselves saying, God promised me so and so but it seems like He's taking forever. God's promises are not just for us. They are to let the world know, by looking at our lives, who He is. I don't think He wants to wait for that. God's moves are always about the salvation of others. If it seems that it's taking long then maybe we need to take a look at ourselves and see whether we are standing in His way or not. Are we truly listening to Him and following His directions. God may be waiting to fulfil the promise a few years off but I believe in the process He is working on our heart as well as the heart of the individual(s) that will be affected by our example. Their heart may need to be in the right place in order to receive you and what you are saying. The process just cannot be rushed. 

On the flip side, when God is asking us to do a now thing, it's imperative that we move because someone may need now answers while we are delaying obedience. In fulfilling the desire of the individual He may also be fulfilling a promise to us but because of our human nature we miss it on account of our limited sight. God sees and knows all. When He says to move, or wait, or pray and praise, we should follow through in the moment with His instructions.

Currently I am waiting on God's promise. I was in disbelief because my mind couldn't grasp just how God could fulfil it. As a matter of fact, I proceeded to give God all the reasons why it would not or could not work. And yes they are all valid reasons and reasons any good counselor would give for something that wouldn't work out. But God kept sending me Prove 3:5,6 to tell me that I'm thinking with a worldly mindset and I should allow Him to work and not 'lean to my own understanding'. When I finally decided. ok Lord whatever you say, the message became less frequent until it was just an occasional reminder. We often give God our reasons and the list that checks off all the right things, letting Him know that if it's not like this then it's not right or acceptable. It looks really good on paper so it must be God's will.

If Moses had reacted that way, where would the children of Israel be? What about his forefather Abraham? Or his descendant Rahab? We have no authority to tell God what would work and wouldn't. We remember Ruth and Boaz. She was not even an Israelite yet God joined her with Boaz for His purpose. Yes, she decided to serve God because of the example of Naomi, and in this example we should learn also that who people are today is not necessarily who they will be tomorrow. 

Sometimes God will say like He did to the children of Israel, ( I Love this Amplified version rendition) "...Do not be afraid! Take your stand [be firm and confident and undismayed] and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for those Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you while you [only need to] to keep silent and remain calm." Exodus 14:13,14 AMP Sometimes it's a literal do nothing stance and watch God do what He does best. When have we ever actually done that? We are so use to 'doing me' and 'making it work' because we are bosses etc. But God wants to show us who the real boss is. He also said to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah in 2 Chronicles 20:17 KJV " Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them for the Lord will be with you." What are you hoping you can do to help God?

Rather then trying to tell God all that is wrong in a situation or why it wouldn't work let's trust God to do what's best for us. Hasn't He always? It's never a good thing to try to help God. Eve did. So did Sarah. So did Rebekah. Look at the baleful results that followed even until today. If God says it. Hold on to the promise and pray it through. He is able to do it and He will do it in a way that only His name will be glorified. When we mess with the plan of God we open ourselves to ridicule and a bitter life may be the result. I think it would be amuch better to allow Him to be God than to try to be God ourselves. Put your trust fully in Him. His plans are to prosper you and not harm you. Determine to believe Him and go ahead working for Him until He fulfils all that He has promised.