God, I trust you…I will follow you as you lead. I will rest in your word, for your word is true, and you have never forsaken me.
Words we strive to live by but yet becomes such a constant struggle. We struggle to put our trust in the One who gives us life, the One who loves us more than we love ourselves. We seem to waiver in our understanding that
He alone is God
He is our rock and salvation
He is great and does wondrous things
He is our defense
God makes us strong and makes our pathway safe
He has the power to protect and keep us safe
He keeps us from falling
He provides all of our needs, even before we ask
It would seem with this alone, we should be able to REST in Him, yet we do not. Instead, we find ourselves working and struggling hard to put the pieces of our lives together as if we are the great master planner. Well, we are not! In fact, the more we attempt to be the great master planner of our lives, the more we create confusion, stress, frustration, and anxiety in our lives. God gives us PEACE…A peace that surpasses all understanding, even in the midst of storms in our lives.
What we need to realize is that we operate heavily out of fear. We are fearful that something will not work, that bills will not get paid, that our families will not be safe from harm and hardship. As we operate out of fear, we rush to make a way. But God is the One who will make a way out of no way. See, His love is so great that we should be called the children of God. Our Father lavishes us in His love, and we are free to respond to the love of God with our lives. God’s love redeems us from guilt and fear. Why do we need need to worry over everything in life when we have God, our Creator…Our Father watching over us every minute of every hour?
We should learn to lean in and accept the love of God and trusting Him to carry us through more often. Learn to follow Him as He leads. Listen to His words and carry them in our hearts, rather than allowing our minds to be troubled. If our Father says sit and wait…then we should sit and wait. In the waiting, we are worshiping…giving him praise for the work he is doing on our behalf, to provide what we need. We should be praising him, believing in the outcome promised, rather than wasting time crafting plans to connect the times between what he had us doing and starting again. We need to learn to take our hands off the plow when he says, “rest…I will carry you the remainder of the way.”
Do you not get tired along your journey? Do you not believe you need periods of rest as you are trekking to your promise? Do not you think that, as God’s children, you are worthy of having someone as great as he to watch over you, providing what you need and when you need it? Do you not believe that you are worthy of His everlasting Love?
Perhaps that is the question we need to ask ourselves more often…Why do I not feel worthy of his love that I believe that the only one that can and should provide for me is me? Why do I think that I have to kill myself working beyond his lead and command, causing harm to my body and perhaps shortening the life he has promised because my body will not last? Why do I continue to trouble my mind with rationalizing and problem-solving because I believe I am not worthy of God’s peace and his ability to carry me through and restoring my strength when I need it most?
Our belief of feeling unworthy is a direct correlation to not understanding God. Somewhere along the line, we created this distorted image of who he is. This image could stem from our upbringing, personal relationships with others who “love” us, and even cultural beliefs. We have been trapped in the knowledge of self and the world as we see it, but God is not of this world. He is the creator of it, NOT IN IT. Only through wisdom can we begin to understand who he is, but that wisdom comes from and through him. If we continue to relate God to what we see, we will continue to live in disappointment and fear. Remember to have a Christ over culture view and not culture over Christ view. This view will keep us seeking God for answers and wisdom as we navigate the world in which we live. But we cannot seek culture to understand who God is and how He sees us. Doing so would be like saying we created God rather than the opposite.
Today..as you prepare to move about, stop and think about your plans. Are these the plans God has for you or the plans you opted to create because you did not know what else to do? Sit and be still for a moment, reflecting on how much God loves and cares for you, knowing that he and he alone will provide precisely what you need when you need it. His love is all you need. Lean into His love…Trust his love for you and learn to rest a little while, for He will carry you through! Learn to trust in God and His love, knowing that He is always with you, watching over you and preparing the way for you.
