You Got This

Trust (def) - firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Trust is a tough thing for me. Trusting humans or trusting God, doesn't matter. I remain very skeptical at times because of past issues when dealing with people in church life that tell me one thing and then do another as easily as sitting in a chair. To them it didn't mean much, but to me it was devastating. I should not be this way and if not for my trust in Jesus to come through in all things, I might not trust anyone or anything. Learning to trust God and His Word is at the core of trusting, and it is my faith in God that gives me the ability to trust anyone anymore. I know, it's a weakness, and I have to constantly ask the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to "trust" again and again. In reality, it is the opposite of having confidence, it is a form of fear.

Trust gets rid of the fear and God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to this very subject where He said Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. God is specifically telling us "do not be afraid." Why? Because I am with you. This should make the fear thing an easy "fix" because we have the Holy Spirit to specifically "comfort us" and strengthen us. In the middle of a tough time where fear or trust is involved some of that comfort "goes out the window." Remember, satan is in the mix and his great goal is for us to get discouraged and fearful to the point that we don't trust God.

Paul shared this very specific instruction to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Paul reminded Timothy of his "genuine" faith, and that adjective is very important in this whole issue. Our faith must be "real", and not a faith based on circumstances, but based on God's reliability. The foundation for this whole trust thing begins in our prayer time with our Heavenly Father, and the Psalmist leads us directly to pray in Psalms 34:4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.

Our faith is grounded and made stronger when we spend time getting to know the One we are trusting and that is our Heavenly Father. The Word of God is filled with the words we need to read to begin trusting again, and a deeper study about the subject produces a firm faith that leads us toward trusting the source of our faith, much like Paul told Timothy to do. Joshua was about to take the children of Israel into the promised land and God spoke these words to Joshua in Joshua 1:9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Another reason to trust God is "It's His command!" To not trust God is a sin, and we need to repent of the fear we have allowed in our life and follow God's command and He will come through in all situations.

I have seen and heard many different people who trust someone handling some obstacle in their life and in their encouragement they will say "You got this." To trust God we need to let go of the fear and doubt, and look to our awesome, powerful, and faithful God and say "Yes, Lord you got this" and then let it go and let God. TRUST HIM!! I had a couple of vocal cord surgeries a while back and I really feared not being able to talk again, much less sing, and God came through.....TWICE. And He is still coming through every Sunday that I lead worship, even though my left vocal cord had some of it cut off and my spit gland doesn't respond. I just turn it over to God, and He comes through, so why shouldn't I trust Him in everything? NO REASON. God loves us and the result of us realizing that love is found in 1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. When I come to God in prayer, He tells me, "David I love you." Everything after that is just details. NO FEAR. JUST TRUST.

Today's Message,

David Warren