Christian Living

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As I stood looking in the mirror at a shirt I just purchased, second hand, I spotted a black spider descending from my sleeve. Surprisingly, I was extremely calm. I didn’t go into panic mode like expected. As soon as it hit the floor I grabbed a shoe and killed it. I bent down for a closer look and was fascinated by the size of the abdomen—It was huge! That’s when it dawned on me, could this be a black widow? I turned it over and sure enough staring back at me was the familiar eerie red symbol. Ok now I was freaking out! Later that day I thought about God’s goodness to me. I had no idea danger was near, but God did, and he protected me from what could have been a painful bite. My confidence in God’s protection over me soared for sure.

Trusting God is where the Israelites failed, while in the wilderness. Despite the power God displayed, the deliverance He executed and the provisions He provided, they failed to trust him over and over. When Israel left Egypt, they were held up at the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army was charging after them. They thought God had abandoned them and left them to die. But Moses, full of faith, said, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today … (Exodus 14:13). After God safely delivered the Israelites onto the other side, it says of Israel, “Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31). They learned to trust God by their circumstances. God showed His mighty hand in their midst.

Are we any different from ancient Israel? Not really. We fret and worry about so many things. We doubt God’s closeness. Does that help change our circumstances? For the worse, if anything. Fear lurks at every corner and will try to slip in through our thought life.

Trusting God at all times can be difficult, not because of his character but our own. What does trust in God mean? It doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect in our lives or that there will be a happy ending after every circumstance. Rather, trusting Him means that whatever difficulty we face—great or small—God will work it all out for our good, in the end (Romans 8:28). We see dimly and shortsighted. God sees the whole picture; He knows the beginning from the end. With that knowledge, trusting Him comes a bit easier. We can’t change many of our circumstances, but we can trust that God is overseeing them. Our circumstances will drain us and weary our bodies, but we find that trusting God actually renews us. It strengthens, enables and lifts us up (Isaiah 40:31). It is the best place to be.

Joni Eareckson Tada, on her radio broadcast, Joni and Friends, said it well, “It is a glorious thing to know that your Father God makes no mistakes in directing or permitting that which crosses the path of your life. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is our glory to trust Him, no matter what.

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