In God We Trust

I wasn't sure where to start, but I've decided to post this devotion I wrote a few months ago. It's about trusting in God, which seems to be a very hard thing to do sometimes.  I know it's kind of long, but it's good stuff. If we put our faith fully in God, rather than focusing on the things of the world, we will have complete peace of mind. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

In God We Trust

Psa 56:11  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Instead of placing their trust in the Lord who promised to meet all of their needs, most Christians trust in their investments, savings and possessions to ensure security and happiness -- only to find their hopes dashed when reverses deplete their assets. Many are wasting their lives trying to achieve security in a volatile world.

Our heavenly Father, on the other hand, wants us to enjoy a full, abundant life free from the cares and stresses that confidence in the world brings. Rather then trusting in a worldly system that cannot assure our welfare of relying on our own weak capabilities to provide for our own needs, He calls us to depend entirely on Him.

Jas 4:13  Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--

Jas 4:14  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

We shouldn't be tied up in knots emotionally and mentally, constantly worrying about what might happen. Instead, we should commit our future to Jesus Christ, and ask Him to help you trust it into His hands.

In hard times, just trust that he will pull you through.

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Pro 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

God wants you to trust him with "all your heart."  That means totally, absolutely, completely, with everything that is in you.

"...lean not on your own understanding." That's the catch. The price tag for trusting in the Lord with all your heart is you must give up your trust in yourself.  We are trained from childhood to put our trust in ourselves or in other people.   We must forsake our pride and trust in God if we're to survive through hard times.

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No Doubt

We must commit our problems to God and trust him for all our needs.

Mat 6:25  "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Mat 6:26  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Birds don't worry about how they are going to make it, or what they are going to do the next day, like we often do, and God provides for them!

Mat 6:27  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

In fact being anxious will only waste time.

Mat 6:28  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,

Mat 6:29  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Mat 6:30  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

God will take care of you.

Mat 6:31  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

Mat 6:32  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 Similarly, Philippians 4:6 says:

Php 4:6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

James says:

Jas 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Once again, turn to God when you are faced with hard times.

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Don't doubt that God will pull you through.

Psa 37:5  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

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I Waited for the Lord on High

Isaiah 30:18   And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Psa. 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

Because of fallen humanity, we are prone to take matters into our own hands, to follow our own schemes. Yet, over and over again we are told in Scripture “wait on the Lord.”  If things don't go the way you want or the way you expect, don't worry because God has everything under control!

John 15:7 "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you."

As long as God's word remains in you, God will answer your prayer.  Take a step of faith!  Ask and trust God to supply your needs.  Simply wait and your prayers will be answered in some way or another, often in the way you least suspect.

Php 4:6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So hurry up and wait upon the Lord!