Why we can trust God in hard times

We need to trust God when it’s hardest to do so!

No money. No work. No movement. Bad news every day. People dying all over the world. Others getting sick in large numbers.

In the midst of our efforts to stay alive and get through another day, it is easy to forget about God and push our faith to the back burner.

Why trust in Him anyway? He is silent. We are not able to see what He is doing. It’s almost like He has gone quiet on us!

But He still expects us to trust Him. Even if we cannot see what He is up to.

This week I asked myself several times what is going in the world, and why God is seemingly not doing anything about it. I have waited eagerly for positive reports. I have waited patiently and eagerly, for this thing to go away so we can have our lives back.

Yet all I can hear God saying is “Trust Me.”

Now trusting in God, as I have said in the past, is easy when you can see what He is doing i.e. you can see Him in action. It’s not as easy to do so when you wait, and wait, and then wait some more…

“Trust Me.”

So why should you and I trust God? What is it about Him that sets Him apart from everything else we could possibly trust in?

He is powerful

Ok – we all know that He created the whole world, including man, in 6 days. What we often forget, however, is that with the hollow of His hand, God measures out the waters of the earth. Not one water body (sea, lake, or ocean), but all of them! Also, think of the vast heavens above us. Have you ever looked at an airplane ascending into the sky? After a minute or two, it disappears completely, and hours later, lands at its destination. Now – the distance that the plane covers is only a tiny section of God’s hand because with the breadth of this same hand, he marks off the entire heavens! (Isaiah 40:12)

If God can hold all the waters in one hand, and mark off the heavens with the other, isn’t He powerful enough to handle whatever is troubling His children? Yes He is! And until the perfect time for His intervention comes along, we must trust in Him and in His mighty power.

I saw this verse for the first time ever this week, and it gave me a totally new perspective of God’s power.

Psalm 113:5-6 “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?” (NIV)

 God has to stoop down to look at this earth that we humans find impossible to traverse in a day. What a beautiful illustration of His power!

Nothing surprises God

Sometimes I am tempted to ask if the above statement is true, especially when there is a deafening silence from above!

I have written about my son before, and many of you know his story. Well, there was a time, just after the autism diagnosis, that I asked myself if God really knew that this was going to happen. You can imagine the grief that I was experiencing at the time, having had all my dreams shattered by one sentence – “he is autistic.” In my grief, however, the Lord reminded me that this was the child He had promised me, and He knew from the beginning of time that my little boy would have challenges.

Just knowing that the Lord knew about all this made all the difference. I felt like I was no longer alone. I now knew that I could trust Him to take care of my son.

Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV)

Does the Lord know what is happening in the world today? Yes. Is He doing anything about it? Yes, in His own way. He knew this great trial would come, He knows it is here, and we can, therefore, trust Him to sort it out.

He is trustworthy

Trustworthy. Hmm. Let’s look at a few definitions of this word.

Honest. Does not steal. Does not give false promises. Keeps one’s word. Does not take advantage of people and their situations. Handles other people’s property with care. Does the right thing. Worthy of trust.

There are not many people who are able to fit into the definitions listed above. God, however, fits into all of them, and many others I have not listed.

When Abraham took his son Isaac up the mountain to offer as a sacrifice, He knew that the Lord would provide a fitting sacrifice and that his son would not die. How could he be so sure of that, even to the point when he raised the knife? Abraham knew that God always kept His word. He knew that the Lord could be trusted.

Do you believe that the Lord can be trusted? Are you ready to trust Him fully as Abraham did?

Psalm 112:7 “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” (NIV)

Let me throw out a challenge to all of us. What we focus on usually stares us right in the face, and everything else is usually pushed out of sight. What’s in your background, hidden where you can’t see it? Are you fixing your eyes on the bad news around you, rather than on the Lord? Have you pushed the Lord into the background? Remember, you can only focus on one thing at a time!

Trusting in the Lord is a simple act of focusing on Him and entrusting everything to Him, and pushing all your worries and cares into the hands of someone who can take care of them. He is trustworthy. He will not disappoint you. He will not disappoint me.

 

Dear friends, I hope that after reading this week’s article you will be encouraged to begin to trust in the Lord once again. We are all going through hard times, and having someone dependable to trust in is just what we need right now. Will you join me in trusting in the Lord today?

Prayer: Dear Lord, I come to you today asking that you take control of all my worries and fears. I ask that you give me peace as I surrender everything to you. Lord, I am scared about what lies ahead, but I choose not to focus on this, but to focus on you, and to trust you completely. Amen.