I trust you...?

"On this day God wants you to know that all is well. All is going according to plan. Trust that there is a bigger picture. Trust that life is unfolding as it should."

TRUST

1.    Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2.    Confident expectation of something; hope.
3.    A person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.
4.    To believe; to rely on.

I've been praying a lot. Having a lot of quiet times. Trying to sit in stillness and silence, hoping that God would speak to me in those moments. So, earlier today as I woke up, stretching all over my bed and began to dwell on life and all the things in it I found the qoute above on a cousin's facebook from my news feed. I read it and began to laugh out loud because it's SO true. I thought and sat there reading it over a few more times settling in the words I was reading. Imagining all the instances where I fell short of trusting God like I should have been the whole time. Then I found this bible verse:

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. - Psalms 143:8 

How unsettling is that. God's really talking to me here this morning. Praise Jesus in the highest, Hosanna in the Highest! 

When we think or say "God is control" do we really trust in that? I honestly can't say that I've always been 100%  when I make that statement. Not because I don't believe it, but that instead I end up trying to take control of it. When I should give God the control of my life/situation/thing I can't handle on my own/etc I push God aside and try to drive. 

I know what happens when I drive instead of letting God drive. I usually end up not where I want to be or I go in circles aimlessly when my destination is just right there in the middle. I know it's easy to say "God I give you control", but the brutal honesty in it is that our flesh, our human nature gets in the way. 
I GET IN THE WAY. While all the time we should be in the background.

Maybe it's because I get stubborn.

I get anxious and want instant gratification. 

Human nature and sin...it's just lame... 

[I can play the background, cause I know sometimes I get in the way, you can take the lead - Background, Lecrae] 

"The biblical definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV). Another version states: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (NLT)"

"The root word of faith comes from Hebrew and is “emunah”. The Hebrew root aman means firm, something that is supported or secure.  Faith is usually perceived as knowing while the Hebrew emunah is a firm action. To have faith in God is not just knowing that God exists or knowing that He will act, but rather it is that the one with emunah (faith) will act with firmness toward God’s will (Admin)."

I never realized that faith and trust were such different things. 

[I stumbled on this website while looking for a picture for "trust" which led me to read this short article or blogg from one of the website's administrators. I'll link it at the bottom, because theirs has good stuff in it! ]

A friend and I were talking about faith in general. What it is you know... 
This came up when my friend and I were talking and I said, "I just want to be certain that its' right" and he was quick to snap back with "how can you be certain about anything?" Then we started talking about how can we be "certain" about anything. Nothing is certain.  
We exchanged several words and it was there again that God swings in and blasts me. 
In uncertainty we endure with faith. Having TRUST in faith that it is true. That we have faith or trust it happens the way it should...But why do we question things? Because we develop fear of what we don't know or understand... It's human...

"Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something and faith is to act with firmness toward God’s will.When we trust someone we don’t question him or her. When we have faith we need to fully trust in Christ and act with firmness towards His will (Admin)."

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. - Psalms 56:3

So do we? When we're afraid...trust in Him? When we're in trouble? When we're frustrated? You can replace any thing for "afraid". Think of it...

When I am _____, I will trust in you.

Or do we take over and try to fix it ourselves?

I know I'm guilty of trying to mend my mistakes or try to manipulate my own destiny. It's not easy sometimes to trust in Him when it feels so out of control, frustrating, and like it's not going to ever stop. But it does. Why? Because He is in control. I like this particular verse I found. It goes to show how greatly God thinks ahead for us and even though in our lack of trust God STILL looks out for us. What a great father, our Lord and Father is. :)

30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go. - Deuteronomy 1:30-33

He's already searched out the places and provided a way for us in our journey. He's placed things and places in our lives specifically for our journey. All of which are showing us the way we should go. All of this..."in spite of this, you DID NOT TRUST in the Lord your God,..." There is comfort to be received I believe in this verse. God works hard, searching out places for us to take refuge in and direct us.

I think I forget far to often that God has done these things for me. He's set a plan out there for me. It's crazy because whether or not I trust in His plan it's still going to prevail. How sad I realized that my trust in Him isn't as grand as I thought it was. Trust is paramount in everything. It's greatly important to me. TRUST. Establish it and operate in it. When I say, "Trust me." to someone how can they trust me? For me I will prove to you my trust. But at the same time, to initially trust me it takes a leap of faith to trust in me. Just like in a relationship with Christ, we take a leap of faith that He is real and He made a way to save ruthless, lame and busted sinners and then loves us anyway when we barely can give up anytime to praise Him or talk with Him.

10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? - Luke 16:10-12

The source I found says it best:

 "If you, take a minute and really look at your life; do you find that more often than not, you rely on yourself and have a hopeful faith that God will intervene?
How different would our lives look if we fully trusted God! Would we worry? Would we try to take care of things in our own strength? Would we strive?
Or would we be so Kingdom minded that the worries that we currently struggle with would become very trivial and hardly worth thinking about?"(Admin)

It's challenged me. I want to be Kingdom minded. How different my life would look? I mean really!!To fully trust in God! I find myself trying to take on things with my own strenght. It must be natural. He's made me physically strong but at times I figure I've become somewhat mentally weak. It's a growing and learning process. God has expanded my faith and endurance vastly over 2010. I've grown more than ever closer to God the Father. It's a new level that is accompanied by a new devil. What's crazy is that I've only done just so much in my faith...when there is so much more to be done or to grow in. It's unfortunate that I know that it's only going to get harder from here on out...I am reminded though. I am HIS and I am his WARRIOR. >:]

So...today, God wanted m to know that all is well and all is going according to plan. It's the new year...I should trust that God has a bigger picture and that life is unfolding as it should. 

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:6-7

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. - John 14:1

4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. - Psalm 40:4

O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. - Psalm 84:12

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; - Proverbs 3:5

"On this day God wants you to know that all is well. All is going according to plan. Trust that there is a bigger picture. Trust that life is unfolding as it should."

Lord, my God Almighty. I pray that you wreck my life and make me yours wholey and completely. You have made me strong in areas in my life but there are some that aren't as strong. I pray that You strengthen those areas of my life that I am weak in and continue to grow those areas that are already strong. Help me to trust You, because I need you and I can't do it alone. May I have comfort in that everything is going according to Your plan and that life really is unfolding the way it should. I realize that I'll have some hard times ahead and that when that happens You'll be there to pick me up and dust me off. Lord I don't want to miss out on the blessings you have for me or the joy that you've placed in my heart. You know my heart Lord, you've made me unique in many ways. I reach out to you with my heart in my hand and ask that you protect it. Lord lead me into battle, trusting in you always. Be my center, be my energy, be my obsession, be my friend, be my father. I love you Jesus, thank you for loving someone like me. Your son, Justin. Amen.

Works Cited

Admin. "Faith and Trust- How Much Do We Live By Them? | Moju Project." Christian T-Shirts, Clothing and Apparel. 18 June 2010. Web. 01 Jan. 2011. <http://mojuproject.com/2010/06/faith-and-trust-how-much-do-we-live-by-them/>.