In Whom Do You Trust?
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding… in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”
As Influencers our first priority is to trust in the Lord. To influence others we must first influence our own hearts by trusting in the Lord. A humble heart is the prerequisite for approaching God’s throne of grace. Therefore, Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
God reserves a remnant in every generation to be his living epistles… his love letters known and read of all men. Men of this world are fans of sports teams or political parties they identify with and passionately cheer on to victory. However, God calls men of God as His fans to fan the flame of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gift he has given us as His elect. As fans of our Lord and examples of His living word, we are “not slothful in business, fervent (white hot) in spirt, serving the Lord.”
John Wesley took this verse to heart. He fervently believed what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.” Someone asked him “why do thousands of people come to hear you preach?” Wesley responded, “I set myself on fire with the Holy Spirit and people come from miles around to watch me burn!”
As men of God, our immediate families are our primary mission field. Ron Tovar recalls that his wife had been anxious and unable to sleep soundly. He hugged his wife and prayed with her, “Lord thank you for giving her a restful good night’s sleep.” That night a sound woke him up at 2 in the morning. His wife was laughing aloud in her sleep. He thought to himself, “the prayer hug must have worked.”
Trusting in the Lord means that we trust in the object of our trust. We trust in the Lord God Jehovah and in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the word of God made manifest in the flesh. Words have no significance without meaning. Jesus Christ is the meaning of the Word. He said, “ye believe (put your trust) in God. Believe also in me.” In Matthew 11:28 he said, “come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
In trying times, many people turn to God. When they reach the end of their own abilities, they look for a “higher power” beyond themselves. God allows people either to kneel in prayer voluntarily or he allows circumstances and situations to bring them to their knees. Even though the world is experiencing a global pandemic, many people are turning to God for deliverance.
In the NIV translation of the Bible, Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” It’s easy to pray for God’s direction to make our paths straight. However, before he can direct our paths there are four things we are required to do to trust in the Lord. The NIV uses the word “your” four times in these two verses. God’s promise to make our paths straight depends on our obedience to His word in four things.
The first requirement is to “trust with all your heart.” To trust is to be willing and confident to believe in that which you determine to do. Trust is in the object of your trust. When you are driving your car and the “check engine” light comes on, you take your car to your mechanic. You “lean not unto your own understanding.” You “submit your way” unto your mechanic because you acknowledge that ye he knows more about car repair than you do. You trust that he will diagnose the problem and determine the root cause of failure. Trust is confidence that the object of your trust (your mechanic) will accomplish the desired outcome, that is, “making your path straight” by fixing your car.
The missionary to China, Hudson Taylor said, “either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s Lord not at all.” What if it were illegal to go to church? What if the government forbids you to read your bible in school? What if you need ten dollars and you only have two? What if your body is wracked with pain? Would you still trust in the Lord? Do you put more trust in God’s word or in man’s word? Is God still Sovreign overall? Has God’s call changed? The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable… God will not change his mind. His gifts and his calling are without repentance. Even when we stray from the truth of His word, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
To trust in the Lord is to acknowledge and subjugate my will to His will. Prayer is aligning my will with His will and my heart with His heart. We can trust in the Lord because God is faithful to His word. His word never returns void because His word is trustworthy. According to Isaiah 55…. “As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where unto I have sent it.”
The word of the Lord is trustworthy. Since God is Sovreign overall, some say that God can do “anything he wants” even if it contradicts something he says in his word. This is what the Muslim religion says… that Allah (God) can change his mind on a whim and because he’s not subject to any constraints. However, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one true God cannot contradict his word. The derivation of the word “Amen” is “God is faithful to his word…. God has said it, therefore it shall be done.”
According to the book, Ruthless Trust, we have craved clarity and hesitate to trust in God unless we eliminate the confusion in our own minds. However, God never said to ask for clarity. He said to trust in the Lord. Our trust does not bring clarity to dissipate the chaos in our minds. The essence of trust is in obedience to his word. We may not see or understand the end from the beginning. Our trust is in knowing that God knows and that he works all things for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The heart of trust is summed up in Jesus’ final words on the cross: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
Some people think trusting God is believing that God will do what I want him to do. They think that God is like the “genie in the bottle.” He’s here to make our wishes come true. They think that God’s purpose is to give us all things “richly to enjoy” and to lavish on us “life more abundantly.” They say His purpose is that we would prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. The problem with the “prosperity gospel” is that its focus is on the wrong purpose. The prosperity gospel subscribes to the “WIIFM” doctrine that says “what’s in it for me?” This is what the “rich young ruler” thought when he asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Even though he had kept six of the ten commandments that pertain to the second great commandment, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, he had forsaken the first commandment, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. The first of the Ten Commandments is “thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In other words, you shall have no other gods between your face and my face.
When Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “sell all your possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and come follow me,” he went away sorrowful. He had the wrong god. His money and material wealth were his gods. He failed to realize that the true blessing is in seeking the Blessor and not the blessings.
The motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” This motto is printed on US paper money and coins. The irony is that money itself is the god in which most Americans trust. However, our nation was founded as a godly nation where people came to the new world to worship God according to the truth of His word. God has blessed our republic founded on “firm reliance on divine Providence.”
God reserves a remnant of his people to stand in the gap in God’s hedge of protection around his citizenry. For we are citizens of heaven. Even though we may be natural born citizens of the United States, we are born-again citizens of His heavenly kingdom.
When the whole world is shaking with strife, contention, confusion, pandemonium, panic, and pandemic, Jesus Christ is the firm foundation. He alone is the rock that cannot be shaken. Therefore, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths…
…that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
