Trust this...

 

"Trust God." How many times have your heard that? The more I think about that phrase, the more  I think it should be: "does God trust you?"

The Bible is filled with history that shows us that God loves man and that he desires to have to have a relationship with us. The Bible is also filled with account after account where man has not returned the affection. God trusts us to love, and we make the mistake of violating the trust or trying to change the rules by which the relationship is designed to work!

We try to force Gods hand, when in reality He is trying to build our faith, make our relationship with him stronger. He wants us to be at that point where we believe and trust him regardless of the situation!

Have you ever read the book of Job? Have you seen the things that Job went through? Why did he have to go through that? Because God new that Job would be faithful. God trusted Job.

 In Job 1:8, God says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?

 That has to be an isolated incident, right? That's the Old Testament. But the same holds true in the New Testament.

James 1:2: My friends, consider yourself fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing trials, the result is the ability to endure.

Romans 5:3: We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

More than anything, God wants man to have a right relationship with Him, but because we live in a fallen world, we like to take the easy way out. We believe that if we don't struggle, then the trials will go maybe we can live in peace. But we can't believe that because the Bible teaches us that:

The sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. (Romans 8:7)

Once we give in to sin, we will continue to sin. By nature this is our struggle! In yesterdays post I talked about birth pains. Although we accept Christ and we are a new creation, old things are passed away, and all things have become new - we still have to contend with our flesh. The process of living how God intends for us to live is only possible by accepting His grace and power that allows us to overcome! (See the earlier blog posts on grace.)

 God says in the Old Testament:

 "I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies. turn, be converted and live! (Ezekiel 18:32)

and in the New Testament:

God isn't late with his promises as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the end because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change. (2 Pet 3:9)

Anything that we go through is to help us realize that God loves us. If it's good, if it's bad - it shouldn't matter. Our faith should be able to help us trust God  - and he will help us trust Him!

So... today, I encourage you to not just trust God, but be strong and show that he can trust you! Resist taking the easy way out. Just like in the picture, take that leap of faith that proves that the Bible is more than an archaic book that has no relevance in today's society. Believe it. Live it. Trust it. You'll grow stronger in your faith when you do!