How do we trust God when things are difficult and troubles are looming ahead? It is not always easy. We are in this fallen world with a fallen nature in us, and are conditioned to save ourselves from getting hurt. Our initial reaction is always to run for cover and protect ourselves. If we don’t see it, if we don’t feel it, and we don’t understand it, we run and we hide. We want to keep safe and protect ourselves. When God seems far away and seems so out of reach, what should we do? We should trust. Simply put, we trust and we wait on Him, even when every single part of our being is in terror of the unknown. We trust and we wait on Him.
The Bible teaches us how to do it:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. {Proverbs 3:5-8}
There is a wonderful assurance in trusting in the Lord. There is a sure reward in not leaning upon our own understanding and leaving everything to God’s care. But we don’t trust haphazardly however, we commit everything to the Lord. It means we spend time in prayer and talking to Him. We seek for Him and we wait on Him to respond to us. We don’t pray, and then plan and figure things out on our own. We wait on Him and seek His direction about what to do and where to go. It’s not until we are sure we’ve heard from Him do we do anything. We wait for His voice to instruct us, to show us what to do and that we know in our hearts that this is what we need to do. We have His assurance. We have His peace. The scripture tells us that when we wait on Him He will strengthen us. Prophet Isaiah tells us,
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. {Isaiah 40:31}
The Psalmist tells us to wait. He said,
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. {Psalm 27:14}
The problem with us is we want to get ahead of God. Whenever we have a problem we figure out how to get it solved right away. Then when it’s getting more and more difficult, and there’s seems to be no other avenue, we remember the Lord. Or, perhaps some us remembered Him in the beginning, but we’d rather figure things out first before going to Him. Then when we do finally go to Him we get antsy. We don’t wait. We start scheming again and planning again and trying to solve our own problems. But here is what another Psalmist tells us,
Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. {Psalm 37:34}
It pays to wait on the Lord. He will not ever disappoint us, we will never be put to shame. The Bible has clearly instructed us to trust in Him and not to lean upon our own understanding. That we should in everything acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths. If we don’t wait on the Lord there is no guarantee that things will work out for us. We can end up messing things up. Remember Sarah, Abraham’s wife? She didn’t wait on the Lord when the Lord had already told Abraham that He will bless him with children that he couldn’t even number or count. Instead, she had her maid Hagar become the second wife to Abraham so she could bear him a child, because Sarah couldn’t. Sarah didn’t want to wait. She didn’t believe it was possible for God to give her her own son because she was barren. Sure, the plan worked at first, except it boomeranged on her. Hagar did bear Abraham a son and gave her what she wanted, but Hagar ended up despising her because she could bear Abraham a son and Sarah couldn’t. Hagar now started acting superior to Sarah, how can Sarah stand it? Then after the Lord finally did give Sarah her own son, Isaac, born from her own body, she saw Hagar’s son teasing and mocking him. She would have none of that. By this time she has had it. So she had Abraham kick Hagar and Abraham’s son out of their home. They grieved her so much she wanted nothing to do with them. But now if she only waited on the Lord and had not planned and schemed, these things wouldn’t have happened to her.
Another person that’s famous for not waiting, (and I’m sure later he wished he did), was King Saul the first king of Israel. He lost his kingdom to David because he didn’t want to wait and trust God and do what was right. So instead of waiting for Prophet Samuel to offer the burnt offerings as what was expected and commanded by God, Saul did it himself. Well, God was so disappointed with him He took his kingdom from him. The Lord’s favor was no longer upon Saul and he ended up getting killed in a battle, along with his sons who would have been the heir to his throne.
We would do well if we wait on the Lord. When it feels like the unknown is about to pounce on us, we can open our Bible and read and read. We can bring His words into our soul until it gives us faith to make it through. Then we spend time in prayer and even in fasting. We wait on Him. We talk to Him. We sing to Him. We love Him by worshipping Him and praising Him and remembering all His goodness that He has done for us in times’ past. Then we tell Him about our problems and our sorrows, things that are grieving and fretting our souls. We tell Him our need for Him to save us. Then we wait some more for Him. We wait until He responds to us. We hope and we trust, because that’s the only way to wait on the Lord – by drawing near to Him in prayer and bringing our every care and our every need to His throne. We hope and we trust in His loving care, knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will never put us to shame because He is faithful to the end, and He loves those that diligently seek after Him and wait for Him.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. {Psalm 40:1}
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and he shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. {Psalm 37:5-6}
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. {Psalm 37:7,9}
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. {Jeremiah 29:13}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, my hope and my faith is in You, Father. I am lost and nothing without You. You are my help always. From now until the end, I hope and trust in You. I thank You Savior for Your great and wonderful love upon me today. I thank You that You will never leave me nor forsake me because You are faithful in Your love for me until the end. Please Father, help me today to wait upon You. Help me to trust in You and believe that You will work everything out for me, because I love You and I hope in You. I love You so much Lord Jesus and I bless Your holy name. I pray all of these things Father in Your most wonderful and precious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.