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Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
The Word of God is such a treasure. In reading it, we find pearls of wisdom and truths more valuable than gold. I love the historical books and my heart sings through the poetry sections, but lately, I’ve been meditating on the promises…actually one promise.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord – Eric Erikson, the renowned developmental psychologist, says the first stage of human development involves trust. Trust is learned from care-giving offered by significant and close persons, usually the mother and father. If the parents are not trustworthy, not faithful in meeting the needs of the child or so inconsistent that the child can’t depend on them, this first crucial stage will not be developed, thus affecting all other stages.
In our spiritual formation, trust in the Lord is a key elemental trait. We must trust that God is the great “I Am.” We must trust that Jesus is His Son and our Savior. We must trust that the Holy Spirit truly dwells in us, guiding us, teaching us, counseling us, comforting us, purifying us. We start here and build our faith on this trustworthy foundation.
Unlike human parents, God is completely faithful. He is always the great “I Am.” Wouldn’t it be frightening to think that God could have a “bad hair day” and be nothing more than an average “I Might”? Although times, places and people change–God doesn’t change. He is completely trustworthy. And because Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God, all they promised in their personhood and in their actions on our behalf can be trusted to be true as well.
We are challenged to trust this God with all our heart!
Lean not on your own understanding – We think we are pretty smart people…and we are! Think about the wonders developed by the creative human mind. Consider the knowledge discovered by the scientific mind. When we run up against something we don’t understand it’s not uncommon to hear, “we just haven’t figured that out yet.”
But life often includes mystery. There are things we will never understand. There are issues beyond our science and our finite reasoning. For some, the questioning that naturally follows difficult, unexpected and unexplainable situations leads to despair and the empty feeling of hopelessness. But for those who have learned to trust in the Lord, their satisfaction and hope comes in knowing they don’t have to know and understand everything. There is One who does, and He can be trusted to work things out in our life.
In all your ways acknowledge Him – While we live our lives–in the course of pursuing an education, developing relationships, raising a family, relaxing through recreation, enjoying a career–in all those “ways,” God wants us to recognize him as the great “I Am.” He wants to be our God, guide and shepherd. He wants his Word to dwell richly in our hearts. He wants us to be clean, holy people. He wants his ways to be our ways.
The result of our making God’s way our way is his promise of personal attention and direct guidance for every part of our life. I hear God saying, “You can trust me on this!”
God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don’t understand,
When you don’t see his plan,
When you can’t trace his hand,
Trust his heart!