Read Time: 11 minutes
There is a clear correlation between the country’s motto and the exponential success of the founding fathers in the first few centuries of the United States of America. There is a reason the American dollar has been so strong. There is a reason why we won wars and won our freedom from England, particularly in the context of religious persecution. There is a reason the small nation of Israel rose from the ashes like a phoenix and is now an epicenter of knowledge, wisdom and innovation. The vineyards are reborn. The land is alive again. There is a God and He is one.
Side Fun Fact: Similar to the American Industrial Revolution, there is a Technology Revolution going on in Israel. For a country that was founded (again) only in 1948, they now have over 500 startups in the autonomous, electrification and connectivity sectors of the Automotive market according to the Times of Israel. Additionally, nearly every Automotive OEM and tech giant has established some sort of “Innovation Hub” in the country. What other 70 year old nation can claim that? And that was in 2020!
There are no coincidences in His plan, but there are fallen empires. No man is immortal as no government is everlasting. Countless kings have came and lost their throne, but there is a coming King who will reign for a millennial (can I get an Amen?).
If love is our source and purpose of life, and obedience our roadmap and guide, trust is our fuel and motivation to strive forward. “Ignorance is bliss” may be a well trodden phrase, but I propose we rewrite it. It should read “Trust is bliss.” Because while ignorance is a lack of knowledge and awareness, trust is its antonym, full of the ultimate wisdom and understanding, awareness that no matter what happens, God has a plan.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)
Do you remember trust falls? I think this is still a thing they do at those stereotypical corporate retreats – pre-COVID of course ;). It is supposed to instill team work but someone always ends up on the ground, hurt and upset with their “partner” and the leader. It’s crazy to me how we trust someone to catch us falling backwards without looking, but we won’t trust colleagues enough to communicate our feelings on a particular issue or even a particular email. Culture and societal norms have chipped away at the trust and love we have for each other. So much so that the initial trust turns to rust, and the rust leads to infection. We turn inwards to our phones in public, at work, and the dinner table. We trust more in technology than in others or in our Creator! This should not be a surprise – these things are hardware, visible, evident and always in our line of sight.
But that is exactly the point. We shouldn’t be trusting in what we can see – culture, society, technology or even our coworker to catch us. We should be putting our trust in the one thing that matters – God and His plan. We may not like the plan, and we may make our own plans (and He will indeed laugh as the old Yiddish proverb states), but at the end of the day it is the primary truth of existence. Trust in this truth and the seed of trust will eventually grow into faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3, ESV)
Nevertheless, God knows us. He knows the number of hairs on our head, and He knows us to the core. He created us. Yet somewhere along the lines we decided that we know ourselves better. We are like the computers that we created trying to tell us what we want to eat tonight…loop error !=<> cannot compute! Statements that they (personification of computers) will know us better than we know ourselves one day is an absolute pipe dream. They may be able to predict our behavior, as we are creatures of habit, but they rely on patterns, language and logic alone. Point being – don’t rely on 1s and 0s, rely on the One and only!
So all I ask, is that we start to ask the right questions. What is God’s plan? And what is our role in God’s plan? Before we can begin to even scratch the surface, we first have to learn to trust God with all our heart, mind, body and soul.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”” (James 4:13-15, ESV)
Does this mean God wants me to become a nomad?
No, this does not mean we give up planning in total or live our lives as a traveling preacher. James even advocates earlier on in chapter 3 that “Not many of you should become teachers.” Teachers in fact will be held to a higher standard than us all! Each of us were given different spiritual gifts, and all of them work together to God’s will. Just imagine how beautiful a world we could have if we all used our gifts for the glory of God. Now that is the perfect harmony of the Body of Messiah!
”And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV)
Some of you are still thinking, but what about planning, and how does that fit in with trust? And what should I do with my life? What is my purpose? And that is the best question you can ask right now. My answer is always start with prayer. Prayer is our opportunity to connect with the creator. And no prayer does not mean whining about life or rubbing a magic lamp. But that is for another post. Take the time to listen during prayer and God will show you His will. Prayer is spending time with God. Talking to Him as you would your own Father. He is the perfect mentor, coach, and parent. You do not have to sit in silence for hours to hear the voice of God. He is everywhere. He just needs a second to give you a whisper.
Nehemiah is a perfect example of a man who planned obediently according to God’s will and then trusted in that guidance to execute his strategy. Trust is a type of discipline which involves pure surrender of our selfish motives and arrogance. It is a humility device which offers God the steering wheel and says, ‘take over, I trust You.’ He still needs YOU to act in trust, but He will guide you along the path.
Way #1: Surrender to Love (Patience / Humility)
Surrender is another modern day contextual pandora’s box. No I am not referring to passive surrender, where we ‘wave the white flag.’ I want to focus on an active form of surrendering. It’s the kind of surrendering where we pick up our execution stake (or cross) and follow Him.
Here is a reference from the Strong’s Interlinear Translation for Surrender:
G3860
παραδίδωμι
paradidōmi
par-ad-id’-o-mee
From G3844 and G1325; to surrender, that is, yield up, intrust, transmit: – betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend.
Total KJV occurrences: 121
We see from the Strong’s Interlinear Translation above that this type of surrendering is more the ‘delivering of oneself’ to Yeshua. It is the same paradox as freedom through obedience. Here we obtain trust through yielding. We can think of it as imprisoning our old ways to give way to the new. It is a commitment to the ways of God.
Think of it as you are entering the highway or a busy intersection. You do not simply drive into traffic, or let yourself merge passively. Not only would that be against the law but it would be highly dangerous for your life. Instead, we yield to the traffic, surrender our own path, and proceed on the right path only when we are given the signal. Note: there will be roundabouts and objects in the road!
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” (Psalms 37:3-7, KJV)
Way #2: Deny thy Self (Self Control)
Abraham was a picture perfect example of self-control and self-denial. In Genesis 11, we read about those who build the Tower of Babel and try to make a name for themselves. Then in the very next chapter, we read about Abraham building an altar to God. There are no ‘coinky dinks’ in God’s perfect Word (as a good teacher once said)! He set these chapters up as the perfect juxtaposition to showcase living for the self as opposed to living for Him. The Babel Builders went out east. Abraham went out east. The Babel Builders settled. Abraham settled. We know what happens next, but go read His Word to see all of the beautiful parallelism.
We may not build towers or worship idols, but there are levels to this…no pun intended. Each day we wake up and go to work. Which is fine, work is good. Work can serve God’s purpose and we can glorify God through work. However, what is the purpose of our lives? There’s that question again. If we answer that question with our career or even our family, aren’t we missing the main target? Instead of building Babel tomorrow (say that ten times fast!), try to build something for God. Build your relationship with Him. Build something godly for a friend. Do a godly deed, reach out to someone in need. Pray. Ask for forgiveness. Just spend time with Him and in His will. We were all given different gifts (1 Cor. 12). Let’s try to use those to glorify God and deny the self a little more each day. That is a solid way to show you trust in Him to return the blessings upon you. Let the glory go up and see what comes down.
”And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall save it. For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what should a man give in exchange for his life? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38, ASV)
“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27, ESV)
Way #3: Let Him Guide your Steps Daily
We all see the pattern here. Put God first, therein denying the selfish “first” and ultimately show our trust in the aforementioned ways. We all know the saying practice makes perfect. And we have just a few of the ways to trust in God above. While we will never be perfect, as we were corrupted at the fall of Adam, we can strive each day to be better people in a better relationship with our Creator God. I think Paul actually says it best here:
”Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ESV)
Just as we should try to build for God and not for ourselves, we should not try to build only in this world. When we plan our tasks on the job, we plan for this world. When we do our job well, we receive payment in cash or equivalent. None of these rewards or efforts will last, because they are of this world. Am I saying we should not plan our lives, careers, and daily tasks? Of course not, again look at Nehemiah, he was a master planner and that served him well. But again, look deeper at Nehemiah. What was his focus – it was on building the temple for God. When our planning glorifies God, He will send His Ruach Ha’kodesh (Holy Spirit) like a wind at our backs. He will direct our steps and each one will seem weightless as if jumping from cloud to cloud. Don’t look down, trust in God. Plan your life around God, not the other way around. Pray to Him to give you the bigger picture. When you have the right map, you know a little better where you need to go. The best place to start is His word. It is like a map within a map (within a map). Find your treasure there and start to see the beauty of walking with God.
Lastly, we must understand that all of these ways are interconnected. They involve active participation in God’s will. There is no replacement for action. Sitting around gets you nowhere. We are not meant to be comfortable in this life or body. It is temporal by nature, and we must seek discomfort in His-comfort for growth. Not one person in the Bible made it there by inaction. We even see the frustration of God when Moses is hesitant to act. Trust in Him. Try one of these ways each day. Little by little, step by step, we will find Him if we seek Him.
”I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23, ESV)
”The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;” (Psalms 37:23, ESV)
”Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8, ESV)
Takeaways to make a way…
-Trust in God begins with putting Him first
-Ask the right questions about life and your purpose (talk to God and LISTEN)
-Don’t conform yourselves to this world, as it will fade away
-Renew yourself in God’s Word
-Plan your life around God, not the other way around
Further Study with your Buddy…
Stay tuned…Additional posts coming soon!
Questions for Reflection…
What does a typical day look like?
How can you put God first each day?
How can you trust God more (think like Abraham)?
Where do you put your trust?
Who do you go to when you fall?
How can you ask God to direct your steps today?
godlyyy 
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