Is your trust blown by the wind?

I had turned around. I had lost my way. I was seeking the last place I knew peace. What I noticed baffled me. I had just turned around and took several steps in the opposite direction, and what I found was peace. Leaving the situation behind was all I needed to do.

Have you ever been in a situation of turmoil—whether within you or without, surrounded by a circumstance that gripped you for days, weeks, month, even years—one that was out of your control? One that if you could have done something about it, you already had, and when you did, it only seemed to worsen the consequences? What else could you have done? How does one overcome when all seems lost and without hope?

Trust—is it a word that seems to be written in the sand where the tempest winds of turmoil cover it with a dune of despair that looms before you or where crashing waves of worry relentlessly wash away your hope? In whom or what do you trust? Is it money you have saved for a rainy day, hoping that when it comes it just rains and that destructive forces do not leave you penniless? Is it your good health that you have painstakingly preserved with a nutritious diet and regular exercise and by avoiding excessive noxious habits, hoping that you won’t be hit by a truck as you cross the street? Is it your friends and family that you count on to be there for you during hard times, hoping that they don’t throw you under the bus? Is it yourself that you rely on because everyone else is a selfie, so focused on what they look like that their Facebook “Year In Pictures” is handheld portraits? Do you feel like this?... “I’ve got to look after myself because no one else will!” I am not suggesting that you reject common sense and abandon any care for yourself, nor am I suggesting that your friends and family are not worthy, or that you should not take care of your mind, body and spirit, or that you should spend, spend, spend and not save for the future or for unexpected events.  I am simply asking, “In whom or what do you put your trust?”

I thought about the times that I trusted in myself. I’m talking about major life decisions. You may have encountered some of these in your life—to establish a relationship or not, to commit to a covenant like marriage or not, to break up an unhealthy relationship or not, to divorce or not, to choose a career path or not, to pursue college or not, to start a family or not, to choose to abort a life or not, to put a loved one in a nursing home or not. In whom or what do you place your trust when you make these weighty decisions?

The times I trusted in me were like a crap shot of dice—the greater the risk, the more likely I would lose—a gamble for the truth or the consequences. But when I walked away from the table of chance, when I turned around from the turmoil of the situation, when I surrendered my emotions that boiled or drowned me—I found peace. And within that peace I found Jesus—a real man who willingly took upon himself to endure all that you or I may be feeling, even though He is God—because He wants you and me to trust Him:

“But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

He is their strength in the time of trouble.

And the LORD shall help them and deliver them;

He shall deliver them from the wicked,

And save them,

Because they trust in Him.”¹

What’s that worry that stabs within you like a dagger piercing your solitude? You may be thinking, “I'm not righteous, look at what I've done!” You’re right; none of us are righteous without the saving grace of trusting in Jesus: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”² And those that trust in Jesus shall inherit the promises of God—the thousands of promises written in His Word in the Holy Bible. It is through faith in Jesus and patience in serving the LORD through our obedience to Him that you shall inherit the promises of God.³

Worried that in whom or what you are trusting is like building a house on a foundation of sand? Build your trust on the rock of Jesus that will not be moved by your circumstances. Trust in Jesus stands strong even as your world is falling apart around you, because within that trust is peace beyond your ability to comprehend:

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”⁴

In whom do you trust? In God I trust.

“Father God, maker of heaven and earth and everything in them, I trust in You that the sun will rise and display Truth and Light on my situation, that the moon will shine on my circumstances and overcome the darkness, that the Bright Morning Star will herald a new day full of the promises of trusting in Jesus. You created me to trust in You—not in me alone, nor anyone else alone, nor in anything that is manmade alone. All things will come to pass, and you know the beginning and the end and where I am right now. I surrender myself to You and receive Your Son, Jesus, in my heart for my salvation. I trust in You. In that trust is Your power to overcome worry. Upon that trust I build my life, a life that will not wash away when the storms beat against it, a life that will overcome sin and death as Jesus did. I am always victorious in Christ. In Jesus name! Amen.
 

“Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.”

Proverbs 29:25 NLT

“Trust in the Lord and do good.

    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord,

    and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.

    Trust him, and he will help you.

He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,

    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.”

Psalms 37:3-6 NLT

 

1. Psalms 37:39-40 NKJV (italics added)

2. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

3. Adapted from Hebrews 6:12

4. Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

Praise to Our Father for the words He has given me.

Jeff Cambridge Copyright ©2014