Do You Really Trust the Lord Nah.1:7 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
If I were to ask you if you trust the Lord, you would more than likely reply, “Absolutely.” And as long as things are going pretty smoothly in our lives we would all say that we trust the Lord. But the question I have for you today is this, Do you really trust the Lord? Don’t bow up and get offended. We are going to look at some verses in the Bible that will show us whether we really trust the Lord in our lives, particularly when the circumstances get pretty hairy.
Do you really trust the Lord? When you are truly trusting the Lord:
The Lord knows that you trust him, Nah 1:7. It’s one thing for us to convince ourselves or each other that we trust the Lord. But it is altogether another thing for the Lord to know that we trust him. It’s like ‘saying’ that you are a Christian. You can say it all you want but unless the Lord ‘knows’ that you are a Christian, you aren’t one at all [2 Tim 2:19; Matt 7:23]. Likewise, you are only truly trusting the Lord when he knows that you trust him.
Perfect peace will override your fear, Is 26:3. When you fully trust the Lord, there is a peace that sustains you and dissipates your fear. Fear grips your senses and controls your mind. You start sweating the outcome and conversing in your head what you are going to do if a certain thing that’s worrying you turns out bad. Perhaps, you will become emotional [angry usually] and doubtful. The thing you dread becomes all consuming in your mind. You might tense up, lose your appetite, and even go without sleep. All of these are symptoms of a person who is not trusting the Lord. When you trust the Lord, you magnify him and his peace overwhelms all of your emotional and mental reactions. The peace of God keeps your heart and mind [Phil 4:6-7].
You will let the Lord direct your paths, Prov 3:5-6. The Lord directs your paths when you trust him with all of your heart. That’s because you aren’t trusting your own understanding. You see, most Christians are directing their own lives and praying for God to simply bless the choices that they are making and the things that they are doing. So when something starts to go wrong, they get nervous and start wondering where God is. Often they aren’t even sure if God is concerned with their lives anymore. But when you trust the Lord, you leave the choices with him. You read the Bible and follow what the Lord tells you to do in his words. Then when you go through rough water [Matt 8:23-27] you won’t freak because you are with the Lord and the Lord has it all under control. Looking back from time to time you can see that everything is working out right.
You will not trust in lying words, Jer 7:8. When we are trusting the Lord we walk in truth as we walk by faith. But what happens to many Christians is that they often end up following a man [who ‘says’ he is following the Lord] rather than the Lord. When that happens we invariably end up trusting in lying words. God cannot lie and his words are true. So, if you are truly trusting the Lord then your trust will be absolutely grounded in the words of God [all the counsel of God] and not just the bits and pieces that men teach to subvert your soul. When you see that someone has misled you with the scripture, return to pure faith in the words of God and trust the Lord.
You will turn to the Lord before anyone else, Ps 118:8-9. When you are trusting the Lord, he will be the first one you ‘call’ when trouble is brewing. And you will take time with him until he gives you peace and clear direction about the problem you are facing. Most of us call a friend, a relative, a professional or an official when we face a trial. Though you may have need of others, if they are the first ones you call then you are trusting them more than you are trusting the Lord. You ought to hit your knees before you hit ‘send’. Obviously don’t neglect to make the appropriate call in case of an emergency. But don’t waste a second after notifying the authorities to get with the Lord.
You will have no thought of trusting yourself, Jer 17:5; Prov 28:26. Most people, whether they will admit it or not, trust in themselves. Just listen to athletes talk. Or read a few comments after a blog post. People are proud. They love themselves and value their own opinions. When you truly trust the Lord, the last person on earth you will trust is yourself. You know that your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Therefore, you won’t trust you. You will trust the Lord explicitly.
Conclusion: Now with this simple outline you can tell whether you have been trusting the Lord or not. If you only thought you were trusting the Lord then abandon that thought and put your trust in him now. The greatest time in the Christian life is when your trust is fully in God.