What does it really mean to trust God? When some part of your world is caving in… when you find yourself being forced to deal with things that you never in a million years thought would touch you… when you find yourself thinking things that you never would have believed you could think… how do you trust God then?
If you really believe that God is all-powerful, then you can’t help asking why He allows terrible things to happen. That’s when you reach the crux of the matter… is God a liar, or are you willing to trust Him for real? Sure, it’s easy to say we trust Him when things are going great. But we find out what’s really in our heart when things come against us. Then it’s either get angry at God and call Him a liar, or trust Him. There really is no other option.
He said that He cares for us more than the lilies of the field (Luke 12) . He said that He is faithful to us, and won’t allow more to come against us that He knows we can handle… (1 Cor. 10:13 – the Greek word that is translated temptation also means a trial, so this verse applies to both temptation to sin AND difficult circumstances that we must endure.) This verse brings us to the difficult-to-face fact that anything and everything that gets thrown at us comes only after receiving His “okay.” You can read how Satan went to God asking permission to attack Job… I don’t think it’s any different with us.
But God said something else… He said “all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) People like to offer that verse as comfort, but that’s not what I believe that verse was given for. It’s not there to comfort us, it’s there to challenge us. Those of us who know in our hearts that we love Him and that He’s called us, have a question to ask ourselves… do we really believe that God is able to turn anything around so that it ends up benefiting us? When we’re in the midst of something that overwhelms us with confusion or pain, that’s when we’re forced to face the most difficult question of all… Did God lie when He made all those promises, or am I willing to trust that He knows what He’s doing? Am I willing to believe that He knows more than I do or am I going to get angry at what He’s allowed to happen? Am I willing to let Him be God in my life?
Me… I’ve repeatedly found that when I get to the heart of the matter, I have no choice but to trust Him. There’s just nothing left worth even attempting. I honestly don’t know how He could possibly turn some things into good… but thankfully, He’s not relying on my ideas…
Hi Katie —
Our pastor said something very revealing once. He re-defined “the fight of faith.” He said that people think that fighting the good fight of faith means battling devils and binding spirits and so forth. While it is that sometimes, the “fight of faith” actually means the fight for our faith. This fight is constantly being waged. How much does it take – or will it succeed? – to shake our faith in the One TRUE God … A God who is good and loving; orchestrates every event to bring us peace, wholeness, healing and fullness. This is the fight we fight every day … and it seems you’ve faltered at a blow. Do you need to talk? Or need prayer? I’m always here. I know you would be for me if I needed it. Love you.
Hi Katie,
I like what you said about Romans 8:28, I never even thought of that verse that way. That it wasn’t given to comfort, but to challenge us.
Yes, now that you put it that way, yes. I agree…it is to tell us, will you believe Me to the point that even when everything you see with your physical eyes says the opposite, will you believe Me?
Wow, that really is a faith challenge.
Catherine Marshall in one of her books said that God is able to bring out not just psychic good out of our mess, he is able to bring total, tangible good… now, that is really something you need faith to believe.
But as the song says, God is too good to be mistaken…