Trust IN God

At the moment we’re busy helping my mum make the transition from her own home into a retirement village. She’s almost eighty years old, and, after many years of living on her own, she’s finally ready to make the move. As one can imagine, there are a host of little things to organise in order to get her happily settled into her new home and community.

As I was thinking about everything that needs to be done, I started feeling quite overwhelmed, and found myself worrying about some things. I was making lists of who to call, what to remember and when to do certain things. Of course I was praying about everything too, but still felt myself getting anxious about some details. During one of these prayer times I heard the Lord say to me, “Christel, I know you trust Me, but do you put your trust IN Me for every detail?” And then it hit me…

It may be possible to trust God, because I know He’s faithful and He’s good, and that He’s always with me. I know His character, and so I know He’s trustworthy. But, actually putting my trust in Him, would require me to hand over the controls, which I hold so firmly in my own hands, to God. It would require me to be at peace with the fact that I don’t have all the solutions available to every possible situation, and that I don’t know what will happen in the future. Instead of focussing on what may go wrong, and over-thinking every scenario, I need to put my trust IN God, and stop trying to make my own plans to cover the “what-ifs”.

Psalm 37:5 (Amp.) says, ‘Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass’. This scripture speaks of committing our cares to the Lord – giving Him the concerns of our hearts – but it goes further. It also tells us to lean on, and rely on, and be confident in, the Lord. When you lean on someone it implies that you need support. It also implies that you trust that person with the weight you place on him while you’re leaning. It implies that you’re relinquishing control to the one you’re leaning on.

When God told me that I trust Him, but I don’t put my trust IN Him, I understood the difference. Putting my trust IN Him meant that I needed to stop trusting in my own methods and plans and man-made securities. These things don’t bring that inner peace. While I need to be wise in doing as much as I know to do, in order to help my mum settle in a new place, I needed to allow God to take care of all the unknowns, and all the things I can’t possibly control.

Lean on God, allow Him full control. Trust IN HIM!

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You’re trustworthy, and that I can lean confidently upon You for every detail of my life. Forgive me where I’ve trusted in my own methods, and wanted to be in control. I love You, Lord, and I choose to place my trust fully IN YOU; In Jesus’ name. Amen.