“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.” ~Proverbs 3:5-7 MSG
Life can be really tough sometimes. Life can get so hard that our problems become hypnotizing. Sometimes, it’s all we can think about. During the hardest moments of my life, I was hyper focused on how terrible things were and how unsettled I felt. My mind was constantly spinning, trying to figure out how I could “fix” things so my problems would go away. I was on a constant emotional rollercoaster because my happiness and contentment was connected to what was happening to me. I trusted what I was feeling far more than I trusted God. The bible tells us to do the opposite if we are to find our way out of our problems and into God’s peace. Consider Isaiah 26:3-4, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” When we are completely overwhelmed by life’s problems, we must ask ourselves whether we are heeding God’s command. Are we trusting God with all of our heart or are we trusting in what we feel? If so, how is that working for us? Is it really working?
God knows every detail of our lives. Our problems and circumstances do not take Him by surprise. God is quite aware of what’s breaking our hearts and causing us trouble. Afterall, He is a heart reader. He know about the things we haven’t prayed about and the things we don’t pray about anymore. He sees every tear we cry. Every. Single. Tear. Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” God hurts when we hurting, but He will use that pain to redirect us back to Him in hopes we would learn to trust Him more. And, although God is concerned about our problems, He’s really after our hearts. Hearts that trust Him completely, come what may. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” –Jeremiah 17:7-8
God is always patiently waiting for us to spend more time with Him. The more time we spend talking with Him and reading His word, the more we’ll trust Him with our hearts and our lives. So, our hearts should always be in pursuit of Him! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! ~Psalm 105:4 When we committed in this way, we experience His supernatural comfort, which calms and steadies us in difficult times. We gradually begin to loosen our grip on our problems and our plans to solve them. Our awareness of His Presence deepens, and He reveals Himself more and more in our problems and situations. We begin to see Him moving in our lives in ways we could have never imagined, all according to His perfect will and His perfect way. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:5
Prayer: Father, you are worthy to be praised. Hallowed be your name. Thank you for your mercy and grace that meets me with each new day. I confess, sometimes it’s hard for me to surrender control of my life over to you. I’ve tried to do things my way, but my way isn’t working. I need you. I need you now. Please open the eyes of my heart so that I may see you at work in my life. I invite the Holy Spirit into every area of my heart so I can learn to trust you more. May I remember that you are for me and that you are always with me. I can trust you with everything, including my heart. In the blessed name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
On Earth As It Is In Heaven - 30-Day Devotional 