Defining Moments: Blessed is the one who crosses the line to trust
"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7a (NIV)
The prophet Jeremiah says we are blessed when we trust the Lord and that's what I desire for each of us today. God's blessing based on putting our trust and confidence in Him.
I believe there's a moment in time when we decide God can be trusted and we cross the line into trust in our relationship with Him. We make a conscious, purposeful decision to trust Him no matter what!
Making the decision now is particularly important as we may face circumstances we don't understand or know how to handle later.
If we are going to learn to trust God in our difficulties, we must recognize trust comes from relationship. We struggle trusting anyone we don't really know even if he/she is completely trustworthy.
If we are going to trust God, we are going to have to get to know Him.
The best way to get to know Him is to spend time with Him through His Word and in prayer.
The Hebrew word for trust in our key verse is batach. It means to have confidence, be bold and be secure.
It also means to feel safe.
I like that!
Dr. Henry Cloud confirms safety is connected to trust.
It turns out that your entire nervous system and brain is wired to always scan the environment, and every person, and ask one question before any other: is it safe? The answer to that one question, a decision that begins in milliseconds, can determine the future of a relationship..." https://www.drcloud.com/post/the-anatomy-of-trust
How can we learn to feel safe and trust this unseen God?
Relationship is key.
We find numerous examples in the Bible.
Probably the first to come to mind is David.
David poured out his heart to God - on his good days and his bad days.
And He called on God for help and forgiveness - on his good days and his bad days.
Moses was continually in conversation with God.
Hannah decided to put all her hopes for a child in God and cried out to Him from the depths of her heart.
Just remembering God's faithfulness to these men and women of faith encourages my own ability to trust God. Knowing dozens of believers who have gone before me have found Him to be all He claims to be speaks volumes.
Nothing encourages our hearts more concerning trusting God than getting into His Word.
I constantly encourage friends to read the Bible through.
You will find a God who communicates, loves and is faithful to every promise He makes.
The questions we face when deciding to cross over into full trust include:
Is He safe?
Is He dependable?
Is He who He says He is?
Does He care about me?
What I've learned from reading the Bible is our trust in God is never based on our circumstances.
Rather it is based on the character and goodness of God.
When we dig into the Bible and spend time in God's Presence we find He is safe and we can trust in:
His character
His abilities
His intentions toward us
His track record!
Crossing over the line into trust
After reading the Bible consistently, a day came when I concluded God can be trusted. I decided I would trust Him - no matter what!
On the days I understand and on the days I don't.
Why?
Because He is trustworthy.
That decision has been challenged over the years, but that one decision to cross over the line and choose trust has set up a series of decisions to just keep on trusting.
We see this in King David.
Throughout the psalms we see He often had questions for God, cried out in pain to God, and wondered why God was taking so long to respond.
But He never stopped trusting.
He always found God to be His place of safety.
As a man who was literally hunted for years, I think we can learn something about his knowledge of genuine safety.
If you are facing a challenge that requires trusting God today (that would be most of us!), as your entire nervous system scans the environment looking for a safe place or person, let's be sure we are scanning God's Word and encouraging ourselves with His promises and His faithfulness.
Just spending time in His Presence fills us with a sense of safety leading us to put our full trust in Him.
So for now, we're gonna wait on You!
Many blessings,
Kathy Ann
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