I Will Trust In Him

 

 

“Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among the disciples.

 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face

 

from the house of Jacob.

 I will put my trust in him.”

Isaiah 8: 16-17 (NIV)

 

“Bind up the testimony. . . “ My concordance defines testimony as a witness borne on behalf of something.

 

“. . . seal up the law among the disciples.” That same concordance tells me the law is an authoritative rule of conduct.

“I will wait for the LORD “ The prophet Isaiah states what we all should do especially when we face circumstances that can cause problems or change our lives. Sometimes we don’t wait and find things have become big messes.

 

When events happen that have caused problems, we need to rely upon God and His grace to work out the kinks of the circumstances. A friend of mine and her family have been through a time of intense emotion. Two hospital stays with a rehab stay sandwiched in between, coupled with miscommunication caused this family a lot of pain and stress. But several of us close to that family were praying for them. When my friend called me after a day and a half in the hospital this last time, she told me she could feel those prayers. By praying, we were trusting God in her behalf.

Know Him; Trust Him

 

 

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you

LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you”.

                                                    Ps 9:10 (NIV)

 

”Those who know your name. . . “ The psalmist makes a very good point here. He singles out the ones who spend time with God. Time spent in worship, in prayer, and in witnessing for the LORD helps us to know Him in a more personal way.

” . . . will trust in you . . . “ When we spend time with another person, we find out about their true nature. When we take time to communicate with God, we find out he is trustworthy. He will not abandon us in our time of need. People let us down. God doesn’t; it isn’t in His nature.

” . . . you, LORD, have never forsaken. . . “ We have God’s promise that he will not abandon us. (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:6; Psalm 94:14; Hebrews 13:5) In our world, we see all sorts of forms of abandonment-physical, emotional, financial, even mental. But God told His children that he would be with them, and us, forever.   

Do you know someone who is going through a crisis of faith right now? Pray for them. Why not send them a note of encouragement. Speak the scriptures to them. Let them know that when we have these doubts that we can trust God to take our worries and fears and make them into what He wants. In the process, we learn more about Him.

Trust, Dwell, Delight

 

 

“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land

 and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and

he will give the desires of your heart.” Ps 37: 3-4 (NIV)

 

“Trust in the Lord . . .” David directs us to rely on the LORD and.  He further tells us to take great joy in God. He then gives us a reason for our trusting Jesus. He will give us our deepest desires.

“. . . do good . . .” As children of God we try to do positive things for others. We try to do this by listening, suggesting things to help those who seek our advice, and by helping provide for an emergency need another person or family may have.

“. . . dwell in the land. . . “ The shepherd king tells us we should figuratively pitch our tents inside the boundaries of God’s Kingdom. Simply stated, he tells us we should abide by what God tells us and follow His leading as we walk this earth.

 “. . . enjoy safe pasture.“ We are to appreciate what God does for us. When we feel His presence in our circumstance, we should give praise that He is there with us, even if that situation puts us into a stress mode. We are to and take joy in the fact that we belong to Him.

“Delight yourself in the LORD. . . “ Sing praise songs during your morning devotions. Share with someone what He has done for you. Keep a log of the many ways God has blessed you. Give praise during times of corporate worship.

“. . . he will give the desires of your heart.” When God bestows upon us our wants, it is not in His will or anything that will cause us harm. God always has our best interests in mind.

 

Offer Right Sacrifices

 

 

“In your anger, do not sin; when you are on your beds,

 search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.” Ps 4: 4-5 (NIV)

 “In your anger do not sin. . . “ How many times have we done something silly or even stupid when we were angry at another person? A friend’s husband speaks of being angry at situations or processes in his work that don’t do as they should. Like all of us, when he reacts to the frustration, he usually has to ‘pay for it’. I have to admit; I have reacted to things and caused bigger problems. If I had just prayed about the hurt and the need I would have not felt guilty about the added work or expense we had.

” . . . search your hearts and be silent. . . “ When we follow the Lord, He allows us time to look into our hearts and see what we have in there-sometimes, what we see may not be very attractive. God provides a remedy for those horrible images- He tells us to not speak. What he implies is that we listen to what He has to tell us. Have you ever heard of the concept that we “are given two ears and one mouth? We should use them in that proportion.”

”. . . Selah. . . “ Think about what you just read. The musicians of the Temple placed these ‘stop signs’ in the hymns for the congregation to ponder the words they had just sung.

”. . . Offer right sacrifices. . . “ In our 21th Century world what is the right sacrifice for God? Is it our time? Is it our talent? Is it our treasures? Is it our trust? Is it our telling? Or do our sacrifices encompass all four of these? We hear of parent’s sacrificing for their children. We hear of one spouse sacrificing for the other during pursuit of educational goals or times of illness and distress.

” . . . and trust in the LORD.” Without our trusting in God and in others, what would our world look like? We wouldn’t be able to confide our feelings with friends. People wouldn’t feel comfortable asking for help from another other persons. If we didn’t have faith in our doctors, we wouldn’t trust them to tend to our ailments.

The Lord’s Love Surrounds

 

Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds

the man who trusts him. Ps 32:10 (NIV)

 

Some people seem to have trouble follow them everywhere they go. Sometimes, these woes appear because of their behavior. Other times, the individual is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When we see a person who has few problems in life, we wonder, “What does he or she have that I don’t?”  Quite possibly, that individual has a better outlook, a godlier outlook on things.

One who trusts in God believes:

* that God is present with him or her in every situation-good or bad.

* God will bring him or her through the circumstance-whatever it may be.

* God uses the times of hardship to teach him or her something to make them more like Him.

Like a Tree Planted

 

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree

 planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream

. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

 It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

 Jeremiah 17: 7-8 (NIV)

 

Jeremiah tells us that God blesses those who trust Him and rely on Him. We are told that people who trust God become strong, have deeps roots in Him and can withstand great quantities of stress. Their attitudes are always gentle and kind. A person who trusts the Lord does not worry about the hard times that come that are out of their control and are always productive.

As I wrote these thoughts, I had to confess that I haven’t always trusted the Lord as I should have because I have had times when I worried about how certain issues, especially those I could not control, in my life would work out. My attitude has not always been cheerful or kind. My days are not always productive. The bottom line is I have not learned to trust Jesus enough-yet. But I am learning.

I am partial to the saying, “I know I’m not what God wants me to be. But praise the Lord; I’m not where I used to be.”

God Blesses Those Who Trust Him

 

“Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.” Psalm 40: 4 (NIV)

 

”Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust. . . “ God showers us with multitudes of blessing when we turn our cares over to Him.  Our days go better, the colors of the flowers and leaves look brighter. When we know that He is in charge of our lives, issues don’t bog us down because we have turned things over to Him.

               We do have times when we have worried and stewed about a circumstance- usually one that we can’t control. We may find ourselves getting sick over that situation. We finally realize we have to let God have it and we turn it over to Him. All our worry- those sleepless nights, those rankled nerves- have left us weak and tired. We gladly turn to Jesus and practically beg for Him to step in and remedy the issue. I heard is said many times that we have to get so far down that the only way we can look is up.

               In order to trust God, we have to relinquish ownership of what seems to vex us. 

“. . . who does not look to the proud . . . “ As disciples of Jesus, we have been instructed to look to Him for our guidance. Our main source of our knowledge is the Father’s Word- the Bible. As we seek His guidance, Jesus aims us on a path and brings others into our lives that help us grow and aid us through those difficult times we experience.

 

“. . . to those who turn aside to false gods.” When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we begin a journey for the rest of our lives. We have to keep our eyes on Him and live our lives aimed for perfection. We will continue to strive for this goal until Jesus calls us home. When we trust Him, He is there to guide us, to teach us and to bless us.