Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
Dressed in my Sunday best, I belted out these lyrics along with the rest of the congregation at the Baptist church I attended as a child. It was one of my favorite hymns, mostly because I liked the sing-song melody, but even as a pig-tailed girl something in my soul resonated with the truth of the lyrics.
Trust.
Obey.
Two critical words in the life of a Christ follower.
It’s easy to trust when the path is clear, isn’t it? Faith seems simple when we know our next step, can plan out our days and see the road ahead. But throw in a few curves, muddy up our trail, or set up a few road blocks and suddenly trust becomes complex. No, it feels complex.
Actually trust is fairly simple. Trust involves depending on another to do what they have promised to do.
The older I get I realize that no matter how secure our background, how healthy our family of origin, or how solid our belief in God, we all struggle with trust. I guess you could say that when it comes to God, we all have “trust issues”.
Why is it, exactly, that we wrestle with trust? Although our trust issues manifest themselves in a myriad of ways, we can pretty much reduce our problem with trust to one fundamental underlying question: Do you really love me, God?
JP and I were discussing this last night. Both of us found ourselves riveted by the Psalms earlier in the day. JP shared an insight from his reading that I had never seen before—something powerful and inspiring and convicting, all at the same time.
Although David (the writer of most of the Psalms) often pours out his heart to God during times of difficulty and confusion, he never blames God for his circumstances and he never fails to trust. He simply asks for help in the midst of his difficulties. What was his secret of continual trust and obedience?
David really, truly believed that God loved him.
Psalm 32:10b sums up what David declared over and over and over again throughout his writings;
“… the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.”
David banked everything on this. And it made all the difference in his trust of God and his obedience to God.
Love leads to trust.
Trust leads to obedience.
Both lead to happiness.
So…the question is…..Do I believe that God loves me? Really? Do I believe God keeps His promises? That He is faithful to His word? Kind? Good? Merciful? Compassionate? Caring?
To me.
To You.
God promises that His unfailing love surrounds the person who trusts in Him.
Unfailing love.
Surrounding you. Surrounding me.
In the midst of our circumstances.
Today.
