Choosing to Trust Again

“Comfort & peace never come from anything we know about ourselves, 

but only & always from what we know about Him.”

Hannah Whitall Smith

Years ago, I read something profound in a book by Hannah Whitall Smith.  It was either The Secret to a Happy Christian Life or The God of All Comfort.  Both EXCELLENT books by the way!   She said that we all exercise trust in so many things, except the One who is Trustworthy.

We trust that when we sit in a chair, it will hold us up.  We trust that the 450 ton Boeing 747 is going to rise up into the air and stay up there.  We trust that the driver coming in the opposite direction is not going to veer into us.  We trust that when we go to a restaurant, the food will be safely handled when prepared.  (Unless you're like me and have had one too many food poisoning incidents after dining at a restaurant and have developed a bit of a phobia about eating out, lol, but I digress...)

I mean think about it, if we didn't naturally trust all circumstances that we find ourselves in, we would be paralyzed with fear.

I would say, however, most of us struggle from time to time with trusting people we know. 

Isn't that interesting.  We naturally trust circumstances outside of our control as described above --  probably because we have little prior knowledge of the situation.  I'm sure if we went into the kitchen of a restaurant and saw one of the cooks coughing all over the place, distrust about our food prep would overtake.  Or if we saw the car ahead of us swerving, we would not trust them not to drive into our car.  Or if we saw that the chair was made with brittle nails, we wouldn't trust it to hold us up.

With relationships though, we may know that persons prior misdeeds or unreliability causing our trust to be broken.

As Christians, we all say that we have "Trusted" Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.  Yet at times we can act like our trust ended there, especially when we are fearful and filled with doubt.

Remember I said that prior knowledge of untrustworthy situations can break our trust.  Well in the case of our Heavenly Father, prior knowledge of who He is and what He has done should establish unwavering trust.

But if we are being honest here, it doesn't always does it?

There is Bible account after Bible account where God has done mighty things, from the Old Testament heroes of the faith to the New Testament disciples, yet doubt and mistrust still entered in.  Forgetfulness?  Maybe.

Or is trust a choice...

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and 

every day have sorrow in my heart?...  

But I trust in your unfailing love."  

Psalm 13:2,5

Even King David wrestled with his circumstances, but he chose to trust in God even when he didn't feel like it.

I was blown away by this thought of "choosing to trust" God.   In my head I'm like, "Nooo, isn't that a sin??"  I mean I've read many marriage articles that say often times we must "choose to love" our spouses, but the Lord, aren't we supposed to love and trust Him without question?!

I recently read through Exodus and talk about an exercise in constant mistrust of God!  Yet God was so very patient with the Israelites.

And the Lord is patient with us.  The Lord understands our weaknesses and uses it to show us His unfailing love and mercy over and over and over and over again.

Daily, hour by hour, minute by minute, we have a choice to trust in the Knowledge of the character of God Almighty with all the peace and comfort that brings.

Jesus tells us, Do not let your hearts be troubled.

John 14:1

The Lord told Moses that Pharoah would harden his heart with each of the plagues so that His works could be multiplied.  But the Israelites saw Pharoah's hardness of heart as repeated failures by Moses and by God to turn the situation around.  They were fearful and became angry with Moses and ultimately with God.  Yet God had assured Moses that it would all work out in the end, and that He would lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.  Most especially God promised that He would be with them every step of the way.

"Peace is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God."

Choose this day whom you will serve.

Joshua 24:15a

If you find yourself wrestling like the Psalmist David, it's ok.  We all wrestle from time to time.  Tell God your troubles, and then tell Him you Trust Him to work it all out.

You see, WE have the same promise that was just as true for Moses as it was for the people of Judah...

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you." For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Isaiah 43:1b-3a

And it IS all going to work out in the end when we meet Jesus in Paradise...

DAILY CHOOSE TO TRUST HE WHO IS TRUSTWORTHY

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