A TRUSTING HEART
Recently God has been showing me something about trusting Him that I’ve never seen before! The psalmist wrote, “Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded” (Psalm 22:4-5).
Over and over David testified, “In the Lord put I my trust” (Psalm 11:1); “O my God, I trust in thee” (Psalm 25:2). The Hebrew root word for trust suggests “to fling oneself off a precipice.” That is, to be like a child who hears his father say, “Jump!” and trustingly obeys, throwing himself off the edge and into his father’s arms.
That is one aspect of trust. Some of you are in that place even now. You are on the edge, teetering, and you have no other option but to fling yourself into the arms of Jesus! Some have simply resigned themselves to their situation—which in reality is no more than fatalism. They call this trust—but it is not trust, it is numbness. Trust is much more than passive resignation! It is active belief!
Some of you have made our Lord out to be some kind of cosmic fire-and-rescue company. It is as if Satan sets your house on fire and you are stranded on the roof yelling, “Lord, help! Save me!” So along comes the Lord, with His angels holding a big net, and He says, “Jump!” You do jump, the house burns down, and you say, “Thank you, Lord, for getting me out!”
Many of us limit our trust to these rescue operations, as if to say to the Lord, “I trust You to come and put out all my fires, save me from all my troubles, and deliver me out of all my trials. I know You'll be there, Lord, when I need You."
The trusting heart says, “All my steps are ordered by the Lord! He is my loving Father. He formed all my parts when I was in my mother’s womb and numbered every hair on my head. I am the apple of His eye and He has an eternal plan for me.” God has everything under control!
Over and over David testified, “In the Lord put I my trust” (Psalm 11:1); “O my God, I trust in thee” (Psalm 25:2). The Hebrew root word for trust suggests “to fling oneself off a precipice.” That is, to be like a child who hears his father say, “Jump!” and trustingly obeys, throwing himself off the edge and into his father’s arms.
That is one aspect of trust. Some of you are in that place even now. You are on the edge, teetering, and you have no other option but to fling yourself into the arms of Jesus! Some have simply resigned themselves to their situation—which in reality is no more than fatalism. They call this trust—but it is not trust, it is numbness. Trust is much more than passive resignation! It is active belief!
Some of you have made our Lord out to be some kind of cosmic fire-and-rescue company. It is as if Satan sets your house on fire and you are stranded on the roof yelling, “Lord, help! Save me!” So along comes the Lord, with His angels holding a big net, and He says, “Jump!” You do jump, the house burns down, and you say, “Thank you, Lord, for getting me out!”
Many of us limit our trust to these rescue operations, as if to say to the Lord, “I trust You to come and put out all my fires, save me from all my troubles, and deliver me out of all my trials. I know You'll be there, Lord, when I need You."
The trusting heart says, “All my steps are ordered by the Lord! He is my loving Father. He formed all my parts when I was in my mother’s womb and numbered every hair on my head. I am the apple of His eye and He has an eternal plan for me.” God has everything under control!