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trust

The Desires of Our Heart: Trust in the Lord

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4 seems a little short and simple to study for a full week, but the longer I sit with these two verses, the more I’m finding new troves of treasure in each of them. Truthfully, I find myself focusing on that last part – the Lord giving me the desires of my heart – with much more excitement and passion than I feel in the instructions before those words. I spend so much time chasing a calling or a desire of my heart, that I forget the instructions he has so beautifully laid out before me: Trust in Me. Do good. Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in Me. 

I’d love to spend this week together turning our attention to those things and seeing how the Lord transforms and grants us the desires of our hearts when we put things in their right order.

 

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Psalm 37:3

MondayI grew up going to some form of camp in the summers, and then in college, I worked for a youth ministry and put together camps. Ever participated in a trust fall? I remember one where you had to fall from a lifted platform to your entire team down below … and I also remember being thrilled that I didn’t end up having time to participate in that one! I like to think of myself as a go-with-the-flow type of person, and as pretty trusting, but I was not about to freefall into the arms of my teammates without any backup plan or assurance that all would be well.

As easygoing and as trusting as I may be, I still like to have a little bit of control. I like to know what I’m in for, and I like to know at least a shadow of what’s ahead. Unfortunately, I’m learning life doesn’t happen like that.

When Jesus called Peter out of the boat and onto the water, Peter had no idea what was going to happen. I don’t think Peter expected to step out of the boat and stand on top of the waves. He simply knew who Jesus was, and he trusted that whatever was about to happen – Jesus was taking care of it.

To trust the Lord, to trust anyone really, we have to get to know the person. We have to see him as trustworthy. Spending time with the Father and reflecting on our journey with Him this far in life allows us to see His trustworthiness. Choosing to trust allows us to step out of the boat whenever and wherever He calls us.

A little less than a year ago, while I was relearning what it looks like to trust the Lord, I wrote this in my journal as I felt Him speaking, and I feel as if it’s a word we all need to hear from Him.

I know you.

I know your heart and your desires. I know what I have created you for. When what’s to come is overwhelming, look up. Look to me, because I know you. I can be trusted – release the burden of distrust and step into new, beautiful places of trust and reckless abandon.

I know you. And I love you … not in spite of knowing you, but because I know you.

I know you. Trust Me.

Chelsey

Glorious Gumption: Rahab

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You don’t hear the word gumption used very often. I like the sound of it. It makes me think of courage. It involves wisdom, discernment, spirit, ability, and judgment, among other things. It also requires good old-fashioned get-up-and go! When gumption is utilized in a godly way, I call it glorious. Join me this week as we look as some women who displayed glorious gumption in their lives and understand how we can do something similar!

 

Rahab

Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier… If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) 

Joshua 2:4-6, NLT

Thursday_Day_Four_Pic-Make_a_Change_SignThink back to when you first trusted the Lord. How did other Christians treat you? Did they say you were a bit messy or carried a lot of baggage? How did your unsaved friends treat you? Did they ask you what you thought you were doing? Did you suddenly stop committing every sin you’d been engaged in prior to following Christ? I know I didn’t. Spiritual growth is a process, and we need others to help teach us how to trust in and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to make the necessary changes in our lives.

I remember feeling quite uncomfortable making the change from my old life to the new one. Familiar people, places, habits, and practices would all shift for me as I stepped out in faith to follow God. I had a lot of fear but I wanted to make the change. I took the risk.

Read today’s Dose verse. The two men spoken of were spies from the Israelite camp sent to check out land near Jericho, across the Jordan River. (Joshua 2:1)

Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho who hid the spies and misled the king’s men concerning their whereabouts. The spies taught Rahab about trust. She took a great risk by helping them. She knew little of God but chose to trust Him. As a prostitute, she could easily have been considered one who was a bit messy and came with a lot of baggage. However, she made a wise choice when she aligned herself with the God of Israel through helping and hiding the spies in the best way she knew how.

After the fall of Jericho, she went with the Israelites. It must have been scary for Rahab to change from her familiar lifestyle to one that was completely different and that she likely didn’t fully understand. But she did it. Rahab showed courage by changing from the familiar protection and popularity of the life she once knew and took the risk of pursuing the true God, of whom she knew little. She allowed herself to move faithfully into the unknown. This was Rahab’s glorious gumption!

Choosing a godly lifestyle over our familiar lifestyle of sin brings fear. At all times it requires courage to bring about changes in our lives, particularly when those changes lead us into the unknown, as they did with Rahab.  Are you risking the unknown for a life with the true God or staying comfortable in the life of your familiar sin?

Glorious gumption through risk,

Rita

[Read Joshua Chapter 2 for more of this story]

Glorious Gumption: Deborah

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You don’t hear the word gumption used very often. I like the sound of it. It makes me think of courage. It involves wisdom, discernment, spirit, ability, and judgment, among other things. It also requires good old-fashioned get-up-and go! When gumption is utilized in a godly way, I call it glorious. Join me this week as we look as some women who displayed glorious gumption in their lives and understand how we can do something similar!

 

Deborah

Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”

“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.  

Judges 4:8-9, NLT

Tuesday_Day_Two_Pic-Trust_God_SignWhen was the last time God told you to do something and you got someone else to do it for you? As believers, the Holy Spirit prompts us to obey the Lord, but we sometimes ignore His commands. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, either. It could be something as simple as a prompting to go to someone and share your story of what the Lord has done in your life.  “Oh, that’s too hard, Lord. I would but I’m too nervous to go by myself.” We ignore the prompting.

Other times, we may half obey Him by modifying his command. We grab our best godly girlfriend and tell her something like, “Hey girl, I know how you love to share your testimony with others. Come see so-and-so with me. God’s got something for us to tell her.” We’ve just put our trust in someone else ahead of putting it in God. Is half obedience really obedience at all?

It’s not like God’s going to crumble and say His plan is ruined because we disobeyed Him. When we fail to obey God’s commands, He still accomplishes His plan, often with someone else who’s willing to obey. They get a blessing and we miss out. God still gets His glory.

This was the case for the people in today’s Dose verses. Read them.  God told the prophetess Deborah to pass on His command to Barak to call out warriors and go to an appointed place for war.  God even gave her instructions for Barak explaining what He (God) was going to do to give Barak the victory over the enemy (Judges 4:4-7). Barak chose to let Deborah lead, over God.

Deborah, however, rose to the challenge and was utilized to take part in the military campaign to overthrow the Canaanite tormentors. She put her faith squarely in the hands of God and acted without hesitation. Her trust was in God to protect and direct her. What glorious gumption this took!

God used Deborah to accomplish His task because of her wealth of faith and Barak’s lack of faith.

Sometimes we trust in people over God. We have the possibility of leading others to the Lord with our testimonies of how God is working in our lives, but when we don’t show the faith and courage to lead, God may decide not to use us.

Are you trusting in people over the Lord today?

Glorious gumption through trust in God,

Rita

[Read Judges 4 & 5 for more of this story]