Learning to trust God.

Today I thought I’d write to you about trusting God. We are all on a journey and it is not always easy. With people we know that trust doesn’t happen overnight. I wish I could tell you that you just wake up and ta-da there it is. Trust takes time. It’s no different when it comes to trusting God. Some people are just blessed to trust so effortlessly, but for some, like me, it is a process.

God wants to take us on the journey. He is more than happy to take us through the process and help us to learn to trust Him one step at a time. The goal we are aiming for is described in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go.”

The word “rely” there means to depend on with full trust and confidence. Yep, look it up on google! In the original Hebrew the word used is “sha’an” (H8172) which means to lean on, trust in or to support one’s self. So what does this look like? It means no matter what we are going through in life we need to learn to lean on God for support. We need to put our weight not on ourselves or our opinions but on God.

Depending on God with full trust and confidence can be explained as this: in your home you may have a chair or couch or bed that you have had for a while. You know it is reliable. Every time you have gone to sit on it or put your weight on it or lay down it is always there and it supports you. So sometimes you don’t even look. You move around your house with familiarity and you just sit or lay down because you know whatever it is, it can hold your weight and support you.

Now if you visit a new place you may not be all that confident. You may want to test to see if the chair is steady or sturdy before you sit or check how firm the mattress is before you lay down etc. Familiarity builds trust. That’s why our verse today tells us to become intimate with God in whatever we do. To become familiar with Him, fully acquainted with Him. This enables us to know His nature, His heart, His faithfulness. God is reliable. We can put our full confidence in Him because He will never let us down. Our furniture may get old and someday let us down, but God can always be leaned on. He is always there to support us.

So come what may, big or small we can put our full weight on God. We don’t need to worry about whether or not He can take it because He can. He is strong enough, big enough, great enough, powerful enough, faithful enough to hold us and support us as we lean on Him.

This verse is not for us to start condemning ourselves and start asking God about everything, like when to breathe. However, when we have some decisions to make we need to make sure God is in the center of it all. I, for example, ask God the priority and time to give to each case I get. Why? Because I know He knows my workload and how quickly or slowly I am going to work through things, what curve balls the day will bring and what I need to be prepared for. So, when I am flat out busy I ask God how to organize my day and I get a sense of what I need to do. I trust Him with that and I do it. It’s not a big decision but it’s an important decision for me especially when I have a lot of things to get done.

This is what our verse is asking us to do. To involve God in the everyday things that matter to us. To someone what route to take on the drive to work is an important question, so involve God in that. Also, with the big things, don’t shy away from putting all of your weight on God, He will support you. He will lead you. He will direct you. Whatever matters to you matters to God. Trust Him to support you and guide you in all things big and small. Allow yourself to go on this journey of learning to trust God more and more each day. Keep Proverbs 3:5-6 in front of you so you know what you are aiming for as you journey on with God.

Love and blessings

Melissa Tsingano