Trusting God

"In God We Trust" is on our dollar bills what has been the foundation of this country, yet today it seems we are far from this ideal.  I have to admit that I have trusted God in many areas of my life but I still struggle to release my grip in certain dimensions.  As I began to reflect on this struggle, the Lord began to show me that we were designed to trust Him with all our heart.  In Luke 10:27 a lawyer answers Jesus question correctly by quoting the Law, saying "And he answered, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'"  I have heard this quoted in church that we need to love the Lord but this list is huge and very overwhelming.  Any of you ever seriously try to love the Lord with all you heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This is not just a tall order but completely impossible.  Yet this was our very design from the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden where they totally trusted God.  The Devil's Lie was to undermine the Word of God, His character, and His nature but most importantly (because He couldn't hurt God) was to undermine the trust of Adam and Eve.  Since the Devil began to undermine the trust of Adam and Eve in God then their whole world would begin to collapse because God was the very center of their entire existence.  They relied on every Word that came from His mouth because it not only told them how their world worked but was the Truth.  We were created in God's image male and female, within the Trinity there is complete trust in one another.  Jesus merely demonstrated on earth, His complete trust in His Father through the Holy Spirit, what was already a reality in Heaven (that Jesus trusted His Father).  Jesus in walking out this complete trust in His Father in Heaven demonstrated both His divinity and His humanity.  Jesus demonstrated what a complete human being was to be, one who was totally dependent on the Father who created Him.  Every dimension of our beings are designed to trust the One who created us and formed us.  The only way for us to fully come alive is to trust Him completely because He alone gives us life, yet we have received so much programming and religious undertones that say we are supposed to perform for God to be happy with us.  I am amazed at how difficult it can be to rest and trust (better known as abiding), it is not so much the activities but the thoughts that distract from staying connected to His continual presence.  I find an endless stream of concerns, fears, things I think I need to do, other ways to fill my needs apart from God, and the voice of sin.  Yet as we look into the face of Jesus we see that He overcame every obstacle I have to putting my trust completely in God.    What an amazing truth that we have now been made new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and it is who we are to completely trust the Father by the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We cannot trust God by attempting to do it in our own strength, only by surrendering to the Lord and living out who we really are.  We have so many areas to trust God in our lives, to trust Him with your future, your children & family, your career, your personal needs for intimacy and love, your acceptance, your security, and your very identity.  Jesus has purchased for us everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), yet that one thing Jesus cannot choose for us is surrender to Him.  We have the choice to trust in ourselves or throw ourselves completely on Him, trusting Him for all of life.  We were designed to live this life of abandonment and love to the One who loves us perfectly.  No other person is worthy of this level of trust and reliance.  Will you hear His invitation today and take the next step He has for you to trust Him.

In Him I Trust,
Bret

P.S. This is a throwback video (1988) but I enjoyed the trip!