Many years ago, I loved planning what my life would be like. I was so stubborn (well, getting better on that) and I did not like others pointing out what I wanted for my life. Until God taught me a hard lesson in 2017 when it involved my health. I got so depressed that I lost the will to live. On the other hand, I knew I still loved life.
One thing that dawned on me is that I relied on myself too much that I had forgotten God. Did I stop coming to church? No. Did I leave my ministries? No. It’s just my heart was not beating for Him alone. It was beating for many things and God was a part of it. I got so many world distractions and I failed to sort them out accordingly. Yes, I loved the Lord. But I neglected Him and swerved to the direction where I wanted to take. Yet, He did not allow me to go far from Him. He intervened. He asked for my heart again.
While the world that I created was shattered into pieces, I found relief knowing that God cared for me and that He was there all along. The verse in Psalm 119 verse 71 reminded me that things happened for a reason or a lesson. Mine is for a lesson.
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”
Head knowledge is good but without experience, it will not be strengthened by faith. I had to go through deep pain and depression not knowing what lies ahead so that I will learn to trust God alone.
When the Path is Blurry, Trust Him
I loved how Proverbs 3 penned those words about trust. It 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.”
“How can I trust the Lord with all my heart?”This kept me wondering many years back. Since I was self-reliant for so long, I had to learn how to trust the Lord. And yes, learning to trust the Lord is not a one-night deal. It is the result of constant obedience to God in situations where we have to let go of ourselves to follow His will and commands. That maybe the reason why the statement followed is “lean not unto thine own understanding.” Because most often, we understand things differently. There are times that when we assess a certain situation that we are into, we think that what we know or what we perceive as the right thing to do might end up wrong. We see what we choose to see. We decide what we see is beneficial for ourselves. But God sees the path completely and clearly. These times, trust is very important. Yet, it is often overlooked when emotions are on top.
When You Can’t Figure Out the Future, Trust the Lord
We try to figure things out, don’t we? However, there are instances when no matter how hard we figure things out, it’s just nothing ahead. Our fears begin to sink in. And we start to work things out instead of trusting. Remember,
The path that’s ahead might be thorny and rocky but it can also be a garden with so many flowers. This thing we don’t know until we step in faith with God and learn to trust His working on the background.
As I was meditating on His Word today, this verse reminded me that many times in my life, God put me in situations where I had to wait. But impatient as I was, I went ahead of Him. And, I lost so many opportunities to see His might hands at work. Now, this verse keeps me steady whenever I am tempted to work things on my own:
“Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
Sometimes we are to trust the Lord while waiting.
Leave a comment