Two Simple Words (one of the hardest things about faith)
I
was praying today about something that has been bothering me for awhile. Not knowing what to do about it has been
causing me anxiety, nearly daily. I talk
to myself about it over and over again, sorting it out, looking for answers,
for guidance, for help carrying the burden.
And
in the midst of this mental struggle, I heard two tiny words.
Two
tiny words from the very core of my mind, as though God was speaking them to me,
whispering quiet comfort …
“Trust Me.”
That’s
it … just “Trust Me.” No other advice
or direction. No specifics. No glimpse into the big picture. No promises of anything in particular.
Just
“Trust Me.”
Too
often, the future is not ours to know or to control. The big picture is not ours to see. The burden will not be lifted before its time.
But
it becomes lighter when we remember two words that God tells us over and over
again in His Word … “Trust Me.”
And
you know what?
We
have the easy part. We don’t have to
know what to do or how to do it. We
don’t have to force things to happen or carry the weight of the world on our
shoulders. He will handle what we can’t
handle. He will straighten the path
out. He will work it all into good. He sees the big picture and knows the steps
we need to take even when the path is dark and unclear and shaky and full of
obstacles.
And
all we have to do is trust Him and be still and let Him be God.
I
know it’s not easy for broken hearts to trust and to be still and to loosen its
grip on life, to get in the passenger seat and hand the wheel over to God. Sometimes “being still” and trusting Someone
Else to care for us is the hardest thing to do.
And
sometimes the problem isn’t that we don’t trust Him; it’s that we don’t trust
ourselves. We don’t trust that we will
hear Him properly, that we will be able to discern the right thing to do, that
we will have the strength to do it, that we will be able to accomplish anything
worthwhile. Sometimes we don’t even
trust that we are worth His time and help and love.
But
if He is big enough to create the heavens, to hold the sun and moon and stars
in place, to fashion a fully functioning human body out of dust, to cause red
tulips and yellow daffodils and delicate butterflies and baby robins to awaken
from a barren frozen winter’s sleep every year, to redeem humanity and forgive
our sins and invite us back into an eternity with Him in heaven …
then
He is big enough to handle our concerns, to guide us in the right path at the
right time, to open the right doors and close the wrong ones, to carry us while
we carry our burdens, to make something beautiful out of our messes, to use our
tiny pathetic efforts to accomplish something wonderful.
And
if He loved us enough to create us and die for us and pursue us all our lives
so that we could have a healing, genuine, eternal relationship with Him… then
we can trust that we are valuable to Him, that we are loved.
The
thing is … We are loved not because we earn it but because He is love and because He made us out of love.
We
are His … and He loves us!
And
in His love, He wants to guide us in the best life possible. If only we will trust Him to do it.
Our
part is to be His children, to wait on Him, abide in Him, pray our concerns
over to Him, and obey when He shows us the next step He wants us to take. His part is to be God!
And
until He reveals the next step, we need only to “be still and know that He is
God.”
Sometimes
the only instruction we really need from Him is summed up in two simple words:
“Trust Me”
And
so when I am tempted to panic and to say “But what about this? And what about that? And what if … what if … what if …?”, I am
going to try saying this instead …
“Yes, I trust You!
I might not trust me, but I do trust You!”
Psalm
46:1-3, 10: “God
is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth
give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters
roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. . . . Be still and
know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in
the earth.”
Matthew
6:25-34: “Therefore,
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not
life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life? . . . But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each
day has enough trouble of its own.”
Proverbs
3:5-6: “Trust
in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in
all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Philippians
4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.”
Psalm
37:7: “Be still before
the Lord and wait patiently for him…”
Psalm
25:9: “He
guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way…”
1
Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may
lift you up in due time. Cast all your
anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
John
15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Romans
8:28: “And
we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who
have been called according to his purpose.”
Isaiah
41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do
not be dismayed, for I am your God. I
will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.”
Exodus
14:13-14: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance
the Lord will bring you today. The
Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to
be still.”
Numbers
11:23: “The
Lord answered Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will see whether or not what I say will
come true for you.’“
Psalm
55:22: “Cast
your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous
fall.”
Isaiah
26:3: “You
will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in
you.”
2
Timothy 1:7: “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of
love, and of sound-mind.”
1
John 4:19: “We
love because He first loved us.”
Isaiah
40:31: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew
their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.”
