Mix the Word with Faith and Trust God <> Part 1
Don’t
forget to trust God!
“But let all those rejoice who put their
trust in You” (Psalm
5:11a).
We hear it said, “Trust God.” <><> YES—that’s excellent advice.
I would like to suggest, “Mix the Word with Faith—Then Trust God.”
“For unto us was the
gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2 KJV).
In other words—They
heard the Word preached but it did not benefit them because they didn’t mix it with
faith. So, when we mix the Word of God with our faith we have the wherewithal
to trust God. And we can be assured the Holy Spirit in us is powerfully
blending it all together to give us peace all we need to truly trust.
When was the last time you HAD to trust God?
I mean really trust Him.
I wanted to say, “When was the last time you
were forced to trust God?”
Though it may have felt like you were forced,
we’re never really forced. We have a
choice.
Trusting God is a choice—in any situation. Have
you needed to trust God for something today—this very day? Think about that for a moment.
Thinking back to one of my own experiences in
trusting God was when our son, Shannon, who was eleven at the time, had a head
injury in a bicycle accident.
I know—I know. You’re thinking, “Why wasn’t
he wearing a helmet?” This was back before helmets were required. At that time
only big-time bike athletes wore helmets. So don’t judge me. 😊
Anyway, the ER doc said he had temporary
amnesia.
AMNESIA! That word will stop you in your
tracks—especially when it’s in regard to your child’s head injury. But the word
that meant the world to me was, temporary.
I remember, clearly, sitting by Shannon’s
bed, hour after hour, hoping Dr. Cook meant it when he said temporary. Fear rushed through me as I
considered the possibility that Dr. Cook may have said that just to comfort me
in the hopes that it really would be temporary.
So, I sat there alone, hour after hour. My
husband was in Michigan for a week-long business trip. My parents were at work
and our younger son was with a neighbor who offered to tend him until my mom
got home.
I knew, though, that I wasn’t alone. I was
well aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
When fear rose up and wanted to overtake me,
I realized that I had a decision to make. I heard a voice in my spirit (not an
audible voice). It said, “Okay, Connie, what are you going to do? Are you going
to trust God—or fall apart?”
I knew
my God. And I had enough of God’s Word in me to know He was trustworthy. I decided
to trust God.
What I
did was mix the Word with faith and trust God.
Though this was many years ago, I remember
sitting there, nodding my head and telling God, “I’m going to trust You. I know
Shannon will be fine. I believe Dr. Cook is right—that this amnesia is only
temporary.”
So, I kept vigil at Shannon’s bedside
answering his same questions over and over in between his periods of sleep.
Every few minutes he asked:
“What day is today?”
“Did I miss Neil’s birthday party?”
“Who is my girlfriend?”
I patiently answered him each time as we went
through the series of questions, and I would thank God that I could trust Him
that Shannon would be fine.
I had stopped asking Dr. Cook, “How much
longer?” because I knew his answer would again be, “I don’t know.”
Instead, I would pray, “God, You know and
that’s what counts.”
Occasionally, I would wipe a tear from my eye
and say, “God, I trust You.”
There are a lot of things in life that are
completely out of our hands.
Are you a control freak? We often want to
control people. And we often want to control situations to the point it can
drive us crazy. It’s amazing the stress relief we can achieve when turn a
person or situation over to God and just trust Him.
Think about how frustrating it is when people
won’t do what we think they should do. In just a few weeks, my husband and I
will have been married for 48 years.
A long time ago, when I learned that I cannot
and should not try to make him to do what I think he should do, a huge burden
was lifted from me. My maturing in that area possibly saved our marriage.
Besides that, I am not to take responsibility
for his actions.
I put him in God’s hands. Instead of talking
to him about what I think should happen, I talk to God.
That’s not to say that Guy and I don’t talk. Certainly,
we do. But I don’t keep repeating things and trying to convince him, hoping to
manipulate the situation. I speak my mind to Guy and to God. Then I trust God. God
always knows what’s best.
Sometimes things go my way and sometimes they
don’t. But I’m letting the ultimate result be God’s. If Guy and I mess up, I
know God will help us straighten things out.
We can do this in all relationships. God
knows more than we do. He knows every minute detail of every thing and every
one. He knows what the outcome should be.
He’s trustworthy.
When an outcome seems to be not what is best,
due to human error or weakness, sin, rebellion, or whatever— God’s not shocked.
He doesn’t fall apart. He stands ready to forgive and turn what Satan meant for
evil into something He can bring good out of. God’s like that. He’s
trustworthy.
Trusting God is about having faith in God and
we know that without faith it’s impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
The Bible teaches us how to trust and why we
can trust God. We need to Mix the Word
with Faith, make every effort to follow God’s leading and do things God’s
way, and trust the results to Him. He’s always trustworthy.
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll look at a
woman in the Bible who trusted God. Her life and the lives of her family
depended on it. I hope you’ll check back in.
Please share about a time you needed to trust
God. Your comments are welcome.
©Copyright
2018 Connie Wohlford
It is scary when our child is hurt and we can't do anything.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is. I'm so glad we can turn to God and trust the outcome to Him.
DeleteThanks for stopping by my blog.
This is a great illustration of how to practice trusting. Easy to say but hard to do!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Denise and you're right. Trusting God is not always easy. Thanks for your comment.
Delete