Tag Archives: Trust

Already Taken Care of

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Paul today in 2 Corinthians is talking about his struggles to return and see his friends.  He told the folks in Corinth that he would be back through, that he would be able to share with them teaching and fellowship.

And it didn’t happen.

Why?

Did he not keep his word? Was he just lying? Did he not intend to do it?

No, something just happened that kept him from doing what he wanted to do. We’ve all been there, huh?  When what we want to do just can’t take place.  And since Paul was unable to do what he wanted to do, he began to talk about how God isn’t like that.

God’s “yeses” are always yes. God’s word is always true. God’s promises are always kept.

Listen to what Paul says in verse 20:

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

God’s promises are already fulfilled. God has already done what He said He would do. It’s done.  It’s taken care of.  You can trust.

You can trust God to do what He said He would do. You can trust God to keep His promises.  You can trust God to keep His word.

He will be faithful.  Others may not.  Others may not kept keep their promises.

God will.

Today, you can trust. It’s taken care of.  You have no worries.  You can trust.

God will be true to each of the promises in His word.

Relax.  Trust.  He is faithful and true.

It’s already taken care of.

We are the Clay

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One of the images we see several times in scripture is that God is the potter and we are clay. We read that idea today in Isaiah 64:8

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.

There is a lot about that image that is comforting.

We are in His hands at all times. He holds us. He works on us. He is not finished with us.

But, when we think about the work of the potter, and the clay, it’s not aways easy. The potter forms the clay. But, sometimes in the work of making the object, it’s not working right. Things aren’t going right.

So, what does the potter do? He takes the clay. He breaks it down. And he starts over. And then he rebuilds.

To me, the notion of God being a potter and we being His clay speaks to that. It speaks to how God forms us, how God works on us, how God makes us.

And it also speaks to the fact that there are going to be times of great pain or hurt or loss. There are going to be times when we fell crushed. There are going to be times when we feel overwhelmed.

Don’t give up or lose hope in those moments. God is at work. God is forming us. God is making us. God is working on us. When the fire is hot. When the moment is hard. When the pressure is on.

We are the clay. He is the potter. And He is at work. He is forming us into the object He wants us to be. Trust. Trust.

He is at work. His greatest work happens in those hard times. Don’t give up. He is the potter. We are the clay. Trust in His hand.

Rest

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I love the book of Psalms. I just do.

I try to read from them every day.  I had a wise preacher tell me once that reading 3 Psalms and 1 Proverb a day will really shape and change your life, and I have found in my life, there is a lot of wisdom in that statement.

The reason why I love the Psalms is they have everything we experience in our lives there. There is worship of God. There is disappointment. There is anger. There is pain. There is joy. There is laughter. There is, well, everything we know.

And I love that, because it shows that life is full of all these things. Not every day is perfect. Not everything is clean and easy. Sometimes, it’s hard. sometimes it’s not fun.

Sometimes, we are just hanging on.

Listen to Psalm 116:3

Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.

Now, that’s someone having a bad day.  And, you know what?

We’ve all been there. We’ve all had that type of pain or terror or frustration. We’ve all been so beat down, each of us at some point have a day like that.  We’ve had these times where we’ve thought – this day, this season, this time, that it will not end.  It will be like this forever.

It will not get better.

We have been so beaten down and exhausted to the point that we feel like there is no hope.

Listen to verses 5-6

The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.
Let my soul be at rest again,
for the Lord has been good to me.

Childlike faith. That simple belief that God is there, that He loves His children, and that He will not leave us.

That He is good.

And, if we believe these things, in that childlike faith, we can have rest.  Because we know God will take care of us.

Today, no matter what season we are going through, we can have rest.  When we have faith.

No matter what is going in your life today, have faith. Trust.  Believe. Hope. God has not left you and will not leave you.

Have that faith today.

And, in that, you will find rest.

 

Trust

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Trust is the kind of thing that is hard to earn, and very, very easy to lose. It takes a lot for us to trust people sometimes.  Some of us are just more naturally trusting that others.

But, when someone has broken that trust, no matter how trusting or not we may be, it’s hard to trust them again.  It’s hard, once we’ve been burned to not look at the situation the same.

But, trust is a powerful thing. When we trust someone, we can let go. We don’t have to worry. We just “know” it will be there.  We just “know” it will be done. We just trust.

And that is a great feeling.

Many of us do not trust easily.  I understand. But, all us, whether we do, or not, listen to the words written in Hebrews 13 this morning:

God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”

People have failed us.  It happens to all of us.

Even family and friends have failed us. That is part of the human experience. We have all felt let down by those that we love, and trust, the most.

Even the church, even preachers, many of us have been let down by them. One of the things that makes me the happiest in ministry is when I hear someone talk about how the are enjoying going to church again for the first time in a long time.

We have been let down by a  lot of people.

But, not by God.  Today He says – I will not fail you. I will not abandon you.

You can trust.  You can trust God. He will not forget or forsake His children.   He will not fail us.  He is with us.

We can trust in Him to be who He says He will be.  His word is true.  He will not let us down.

Today, no matter what you are going through, trust.  He will not fail you. But your faith in Him.  He will not fail.  You can rest easy in Him. Trust today.

You will not be disappointed.

It’s Not about You (or me)

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The devotional guide I’ve been using thus far in the new year gives you time to read a scripture passage, but also read beside it another “devotional or spiritual text.”  I’ve been reading along side of scripture a book that’s been a constant companion in my spiritual life for years now, The Rule of Benedict.

This is a guide for monks (yes, monks) that helps them order their life and focus on the life of prayer. The version I read has along with a commentary.  That explains how this can be relevant today.

I tell you this to tell you that today was one of those neat days where God used a sledge-hammer on me to get something across to me. Those are always cool days.

In the Rule this morning it talked about how much plead for God’s grace, for only in His working in our lives, can we be faithful to the tasks that God sets before us. Only with His working in our lives can we be the people who God is calling us to be.

Convicting.  In an age where we try to do it all, it’s good to know that God is the one at work.

Then, the text I read from Acts 2 this morning:

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

Notice who is at work in this text?  God.  He is at work. It is His plan.  He is the one that is doing all these things.

In my life, in your life, it is God.

Not us.

It’s not about you.  Or me. It’s about God.  It’s about His working our life.  It’s about Him moving in our life.  It’s about His faithfulness.

God is going to be faithful to us. God has a plan.  God is making a way.

He wants us to trust and be faithful.  And know that we are not directing this life.  He is.  It’s not about us. It’s about Him.  Trust today.  He has a plan.  He is at work.

He’s got it under control.  Trust.

Where Is Your Trust

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The Psalms have a way of getting to the heart of what is most important sometimes.

They can ask questions that cut to the chase and hit us with what is really most important. They address the root issue of the problem.

Today, in Psalm 62, the Psalmist talks about who we trust when he writes this:

9 Put your trust in him always, O people, *
pour out your hearts before him, for God is our refuge.
10 Those of high degree are but a fleeting breath, *
even those of low estate cannot be trusted.
11 On the scales they are lighter than a breath, *
all of them together.

Our security comes from God. Our hope comes from God.  Our very lives come from God.  He is the author of it all, and He is the one that we trust.

In all of our lives.

It is tempting to put our trust in other things, people, power, places. This tempting and easy to do.

But, life is not found there.

And, in the end, security is not found there.  One of my favorite Psalms says that only in God do we find safety.

This Psalm echoes that theme today.

Our ultimate safety, strength, hope, peace, joy, all of this, lies not in ourselves, or in others, or anything else.

It lies in God.  He is our hope.  Safety. Security.  Life.

Place your trust in Him today.

Where is your trust today?  What do you place it in?

Today, and each day, may we place out faith in the rock that is higher than us. May we be reminded that our life, in the, rests in God.

May we trust Him today, and each day.

Waiting

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I’m not a fan of waiting.  I told my Small Group at Asbury last night while I don’t like worrying, I do it, and at least doing it makes me feel productive.

I just don’t like that feeling of doing nothing.

Of waiting.

Of not being able to “do” something.

That’s why it’s good for me to read Psalm 37. The Psalmist in this passage says this:

7 Be still before the Lord *
and wait patiently for him.

In this passage, the Psalmist mentions several times waiting upon God. Waiting for Him. Being patient.

Things I don’t like.

But, he stresses several times, we wait upon God because we have faith in God.

The reason we can wait is because we have faith in God.

That His plan is not our plan. . . .

His schedule is not our schedule. . . .

His time is not our time. . .

We have to trust. When we trust, we can wait. When we have faith, we can wait.

When we want to do what we want when we want it how we want it, we don’t want to wait.

When we trust in ourselves over God, we don’t want to wait.

We we doubt, we don’t want to wait.

So, in the end, it’s not about waiting, it’s about faith.

Today, do we have faith? Do we trust our God?  Today, may we have the faith to wait on God, even if His schedule is not ours.

Waiting on God

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Habakkuk is a book of Scripture that we don’t talk about all that much. It’s one of those Old Testament Minor Prophets, one of those small books in the back before you get to the New Testament.

Easy to ignore, easy to not think about.

Plus it’s got a hard to pronounce and spell title.

(Please, those of you that know me, please refrain from making any jokes about my ability to spell.  Or use basic grammar.)

In this book, Habakkuk makes his complaint before God. And it’s a complaint we all understand.

Why, God?  Why are things wrong?  Why is their evil? Why do the evil triumph?  Why are the good harmed?

Why?

And he waits for God’s response.  And it finally comes in this passage from today:

20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him!

The Lord is Lord.  Yes, there are a lot of things I don’t understand. There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me.

Yes, there is evil.  Yes, there is pain. Yes, there are things that my finite mind just can’t work out and work through.

Yes, there are things that I don’t know how to deal with.

But, God is God.

And He is in His Holy Temple.

And while I don’t understand all, and know all, and fathom all, God does.

And while I don’t know everything, I know this.

I can trust God.  He is able.  He is worthy.

He can be trusted.

He is in His Holy Temple today.  He remains on the throne.  You can trust.

No matter what you’re going through today, you can trust.

Habakkuk waited on God. And that was the response he received: Wait. He is God.

He is God.  He can handle it.  He is God.

Trust, today.

God is at Work

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Preparation is important.

I’m a guy that believes in preparation and planning.

I’m a guy that will leave early for a meeting and drive around just so that I know where I’m going so I won’t be late.

I’m a guy that likes to know what is going to happen before it happens.

I’m a planner, someone who prepares, and, by my nature, someone who worries.

And that’s a problem.  When you’re wired like that, you think it’s all up to you.

You’ve got to dot every “i” and cross every “t.”

And if you make a mistake, boom, it’s over.

Today, listen to what the Psalmist says to God in Psalm 80:

9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.

God prepared the land for the root. God did the work. God made things ready.

Not the Psalmist.  Not Israel.  Not the prophet.  Not the King.

God made it ready.

God did the work.

So is it for you today. There’s not a situation you are going to encounter that God wasn’t already at work at.

God is preparing things for you today. God is making things ready.

God is at work.

He is making a way, making a plan.

He’s at work.

It’s not all up to you. Trust.  Listen.  Follow.

God is at work.

You can trust Him.

The Stuff of Earth or Heaven

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One of my favorite Psalms in the Bible is Psalm 73.  I think passage the Psalmist goes through what happens to the wicked.

And it’s not what you’d think.

He says, you know, they got it pretty good. Things seem to go well for them.

They get what they want. Things works out. It seems like the way to go.

He looks at his life and sees that things aren’t perfect, that things can be hard, that life is tough.

And then he looks at the wicked and thinks, man, that’s just not fair.

I’m trying to do right, and they aren’t! Why do they get the good stuff?

But, as he thinks, he considers God, considers God’s plan, considers God’s way.

And He realizes this:

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.

What else matters but God?

The stuff of this earth, it will fail. The stuff of the world it will fail

God will not.  The things of God will not.

The Psalmist look the wicked and realized that instead of things working out for them, they are in trouble.

For, while they have the things of this world, they don’t have God.

And what else could you want?

What else could you need?

Today, remember, trust not in the things of the world.

Trust in God.

And you will never, ever be disappointed.