“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? Jeremiah 32:27 

TRUSTING GOD

The walk of the believer is based on his/her trust in God. In scripture we see examples of ordinary women who dared to trust in GOD and as a result did extraordinary things and lived extraordinary lives

Deborah, the patriotic woman- Judges 4 &5;  Ruth, the woman of constancy- Ruth 1-4;   Hannah, the ideal mother – 1 Samuel 1&2;   Esther, the self-sacrificing woman – Esther 4;    The Syrophoenician, the persistent woman – Mark 7:25 -30 to mention a few.

Women are distinctive for being:

• the last at the Cross (Mark 15:47);

• the first at the tomb (John 20:1);

• the first to proclaim the resurrection (Matthew 28:8);

• the first to preach to the Jews (Luke 2:37-38); 

• Attended the first prayer-meeting (Acts 1:14);

• the first to greet Christian Missionaries (Paul and Silas) in Europe (Acts 16:13);

• the first European convert (Acts 16:14).

 A strong conviction and trust pushed these women to venture into the extraordinary, into the supernatural and they saw the incredible results of their trust in God.  

In the text above, we see God exclaiming, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27) . God waits for His children to trust in Him and to depend on Him for all things yet this is something that most find difficult even though trust in God has amazing benefits including:

Peace – You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You; because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever; for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4

Victory – O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Psalms 25:2-3

Guidance – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Protection – As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 2 Samuel 22:31

Mercy – Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. Psalms 32:10

Preservation and fruitfulness – Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and Jehovah is his trust. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.Jeremiah 17:7-8

The list of the benefits one gets from trusting the LORD is endless and yet many  find it difficult. As we explore some of the reasons, it would be beneficial if each of us could ask the LORD to search us and help us where we may be wanting (Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if any wicked way is in me; and lead me in the way everlasting). Psalms 139:23-24

 Natural Circumstances – Sarah in Genesis 18:10-14 laughs in disbelief when told she will have a child. Her reason was, ….After my being old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (Genesis 18:12) in other words, in the natural, Sarah was too old to have a child. Remember, it is Sarah who a few years earlier, had introduced Hagar into her marriage so that she could have a child from her (Genesis 16). She looked at the natural circumstances. Sarah eventually did get her child in Genesis 21 because her husband dared to believe and trust in God.

However, another was not so fortunate. In 2 Kings 7:1-2, during a time of acute famine because of a siege, the prophet Elisha stated that the next day there would be plenty of food, the officer on whose arm the king leaned disagreed saying even if God opened the windows of heaven it would not happen. The man doubted the word of God and the prophets response was, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food (2 Kings 7:2). The next day, the Assyrian army was found to have fled, leaving behind plenty of food.  In 2 Kings 7:17 we read that And the king appointed the third officer over the gate, the one on whose hand he had leaned. And the people trampled on him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 

This man was not able to move from  lack to plenty, from less to more because he could not trust the word of God to provide and make room for him – no wonder he was trampled to death. His world was so small that when God started enlarging others, he went under. 

The natural mind finds it very difficult to understand spiritual things. Jesus stated in John 4:24 that God is Spirit: then let his worshippers give him worship in the true way of the spirit. Man’s wisdom and mindsets or philosophies cannot therefore submit to God. Indeed, Paul writing to the Romans states, For to be earthly minded is enmity against God; For such a mind is not subject to the Law of God, Nor can it be; And they who are earthly minded cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8 ) An earthly mind stops one from being able to access what God has and desires to give to them and sometimes as in the case of the kings officer, with disastrous and tragic results.  In this day and age, men and women of faith are laughed at and ridiculed  as liberal philosophies attack the very fabric of Christian doctrine – the virgin birth, the Resurrection, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the list goes on.

Paul warned in Colossians 2:8  Take care lest any man drag you away captive by his philosophy which is a vain deceit, following the traditions of men and the world’s crude notions, and not Christ. Sometimes, we have our own philosophy(mindsets, thoughts) which keeps us from what God has for us. Yet God comments on the

philosophies on man stating, in  Corinthians 1:19-20, 25, 27,  ‘I will bring the philosophy of the philosophers to nought, and the shrewdness of the shrewd I will make of no account.’ Where is the Philosopher? where the Teacher of the Law? where the Disputant of to-day? Has not God shown the world’s philosophy to be folly? ….Because what seems foolish in God is wiser than men; and what seems feeble in God is stronger than men.But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong; 

God equates the wisdom of man with foolishness, I venture he sees a man puffed up in his wisdom rather like the fool who cuts a tree branch while sitting on it.

As we go into the new year, let us ask God to search our hearts, and reveal any philosophies that would stop us from attaining all God has for us. Let us also ask Him to enable us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2) and that like David we may cry out:

Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes, O Lord, my strength and my salvation. (Psalms 19:14 )