Featured Favorite: Trust God. He sees everything
Michelangelo’s “God” from “The Creation of Adam” (wikimedia)
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely,” (Proverbs 3:5).
God sees everything. He sees the clerk short-changing the old man, the boy stealing the heroin, the man cheating on his wife, the girl lying to her teacher.
He also sees the teenager turning in the $100 bill he finds in the parking lot, the wife praying for her non-Christian husband, the daughter loving unconditionally her siblings who taunt her.
He sees everything. He is a just and loving God and that’s why we can trust in him.
His 360-degree vision takes in the full panorama of time and space. He sees behind closed doors and around corners. He sees things that happen at work, things that happen in our government, things that happen in our schools.
He not only sees all in the present, he sees all that is beyond us and he sees all that is behind us. He sees it in the full context we will never see. And because he sees everything, everywhere with loving eyes, we can trust him.
Trusting God enables you to live in the truth and not be afraid to remember who you are. “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will act,” (Psalm 37:5). You can trust in his personal call to you; it isn’t a mistake. Trust in who he created you to be in him. Trust in his call to your role in life and in your family.
Exercise that trust in God in relationships that need forgiveness, healing and conversion. God uses those situations to increase our trust and reveal new ways to trust him. Remember that he came to be like us so that we could become like him. To become like him doesn’t mean we must be perfect, but because he is perfect, we can trust in that perfection. I can be the best that I can be, where the Lord has me now, but you have to trust that the Lord is working through me as he is through you. “May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be,” wrote St Thérèse of Lisieux.
Jesus tells us in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” Our unwavering absolute trust in God leads us to surrender our hurts and disappointments because he knows exactly what we need to make us holy. Trust is letting God love us, serve us and rescue us from a difficult situation. Our belief that his wisdom is superior to ours gives us the desire for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We can trust him so much that we praise him for whatever happens without telling him how to do it or fanaticizing about how it will happen.
Trust in that grace living in each of us as he gives us opportunities to love and serve him and to pray with others in his name. Trust in that grace within to fight spiritual battles, to do the work of the Lord in our families, in our ministries and in our workplaces. Trust in that inner grace for the courage to stand up and be his disciple because he is trustworthy. His name is faithful and true.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Romans 15:13).
Where in your life is God asking you to trust him more?
(© 2013 Revised 2016 Nancy HC Ward)
Any advice out there as to how to put trust in our Lord as I watch a family member suffer years of depression? All attempts to give advice, suggest and physically bring for medical treatment, and offer help with daily responsibilities are not bringing this hurting soul any change. He is stuck in such pain, and I am left with my prayers, over years, which seem insufficient.
I can relate to your pain of seeing someone you love suffer depression. It seems nothing helps. It’s hard to trust God’s plan when you don’t see change happening. When I am in a situation of helplessness, all I can do is trust God and surrender my helplessness, my doubts, my hopes and dreams for the person I care for. I surrender the outcome of the situation to God with a prayer like “Thy will be done.” That takes a mountain of trust. I find that when I surrender the outcome of the situation, I feel a tremendous peace, knowing that whatever happens is God’s will, since I placed everything in this hands. Yes, I continue to work the problem but with a lighter touch.