Trust God?
Hebrews 3:19 (NKJV)
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
This scripture is a powerful statement and one that every Christian should know and take hold of. It is referencing the Israelites as a reminder to us that though God has delivered (saved) His people, they could not enter His promised land because they didn’t trust Him.
Believing in God is never enough. The book of James tells us that even the demons believe in Him. When we say “believe”, we have to define it rightly. Truly believing in God means that the whole of your trust is found in Him and His Word. I have known many “believers” who don’t actually believe the Word of God. Some of them are even in positions of authority supposedly leading whole groups of people. I say supposedly because how well can you lead people in the things of God if you don’t know or believe in what He says about Himself?
My daughter and I decided one morning to start learning and reciting a scripture each week daily with the desire to really get it in us. Our first direction was found in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” What direction and what promise!
Trust here is the same concept as believing in God. It’s placing the whole of your trust in Him and only Him. To truly trust God, you will have to let go of what you thought you knew and be ready to have your world rocked. Trust is what led Peter out onto the water after Jesus. Everything told him in the natural it was an impossibility but His Lord called to him. Well, neither trust nor God have changed. His Spirit will take you out on a limb and you will have to have complete trust in Him if you are to go.
Interestingly, the word in Hebrew used here for “acknowledge” is the same one the Bible uses to talk about when a man and woman come together in marital relations. (I hope that’s PG enough!) In essence it means to be intimately acquainted with. Do you intimately know your God? I trust my wife and she trusts me because we are intimately acquainted with each other. I would trust her with anything. When you learn to know God like this, trusting Him is less and less difficult. In fact, it becomes a literal joy because you begin to realize that every place He has for you to go and all He has for you to do, ultimately bring the fullness of blessing in your life and others’ lives.
God so loved us that He opened the door to an amazing world for us and that door is His Son. Jesus got for us what we couldn’t get for ourselves and God told us that alone should be enough to trust Him unconditionally (Romans 8:32). So I ask, do you? Do you trust Him completely or are you still foolishly blaming God for all the bad things that happen in life? Do you boldly look to God for answers, or do you sheepishly plead, hoping that maybe this time He will help you?
I encourage you, try faith! By try, I mean live in and refuse any other kind of life. After all the Word tells us that living by faith is the sign of our righteousness. Do you trust God or not? The answer to that determines whether you’ll receive from Him or not.
Psalms 37:3-5 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Yes, that’s in your Bible!)
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
