Trusting God

Ps. 119:71

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

 

Nearly everyone agrees that trusting in God is essential for living the Christian life; yet the path to true trusting often comes at great cost. Such trust as this is not in the easy times where believers talk a good line and even praise God all the while proclaiming their trust. But really, are we trusting in God in those times? What's to trust for when we have all we need or when everything is going our way? But when the hard times come, the adversity, the illness, the financial woes, the inter-personal family problems, the wayward children, the job loss, and any number of things, where is our trust? Has our trust shifted to a chorus of 'why's' or 'I don't understand' sometimes resulting in blaming God and having a faith crisis? So sad when our God is so great!

 

Trusting Him in difficulty and adversity yields a heart of intimacy with God. It is in the rough patch  that we cling with all that we have! It is here we dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty! It is here He becomes our refuge and fortress, our God in whom we trust! God cares deeply about out holiness but our comfort is a different story. When afflictions comes, cling to Him and watch Him do wondrous things in our lives. It may not be visible in the physical, material world. Your disease will still progress. Your financial blunders may still be there, but your soul and your Spirit will be wondrously blessed. In the rough patch God reveals to us our true priorities. He loosens our grip on this world and places it firmly on Him. He opens our eyes to the spiritual blessing all around, blessings that somehow dim and even disappear when times are easy. With the psalmist, I can say, It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

 

Father,

Give me the strength to endure the hard times. Draw me ever closer to You. Loosen my grip on this world so that every day I might long more and more to be with You.

In Jesus name,

Amen