Trust is not a natural action that we tend to take. We are flawed and we all have a past. Maybe someone has abused your trust before, or maybe you simply do not feel that anyone around you is worthy of your trust. Whatever the case may be, trusting someone is not always easy. Why is this? We find it hard to trust people because we would rather trust ourselves and be independent. The problem with this? We're not created to be independent, but rather codependent on our Creator. He is the one most worthy of our trust.
Last year, someone challenged me to pray for a specific word. I prayed that God would reveal to me one word that He wanted to use in my life throughout the year. The word "trust" kept coming to my mind, and that was "my word" for 2015. I now understand the phrase, "Ask and you shall receive." I asked God to teach me how to trust Him completely, and He did just that. As I graduated high school, faced college challenges and had more changes in my life than I care to count, I learned what it means to truly trust God. It was not easy by any means, but He brought me through it.
One of the verses that I clung to the most during this time is Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This is just one of many times that the Bible clearly tells us to place our trust in the Lord, for He is the ultimate planner of our paths and He knows our future. He has everything in control and knows that the "change of plans" we think we face are actually better for us. His ways for our lives are far better than we could ever plan on our own, so why do we think trying to control things will work better than trusting Him? When I really think about it, it is pretty ignorant of me to think that I could ever plan and control my life better than God, the Creator of the universe, could. When you come to this realization, it becomes easier to surrender and trust in God and not yourself.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” I personally can attest to the fruit that comes when you wholeheartedly trust God in every aspect of your life, but this verse is the greatest proof. Time and time again, both in Scripture and in the lives of others today, I see evidence of this promise. "Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord..." What a great promise that is!
One of my favorite songs is "Trust in You" by Lauren Daigle. I love the analogy it gives of the struggles we may face when it says, "When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move, when You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through, when You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You, I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You." It goes on to say, "Your ways are always higher, your plans are always good. There’s not a place where I’ll go, You’ve not already stood." Even when things do not go as we want them to, we can trust that God has better plans in store for us. He alone is worthy of our trust. Surrender your life completely to Him and do not worry about tomorrow.
