A couple of weeks ago, my daughters began basketball practice with their school teams. They have a new assistant coach who has put them on a conditioning program where they run and do some fairly strenuous exercises either before or after practice.
The first day or two, my girls were in misery! They came home talking about how sore they were. But as each day passed, they were able to get through it a little easier, and could move and stretch without soreness the next morning. By using muscles that hadn’t seen much action lately, they built them up, so now it’s far less painful than it was at first.
I think that taking this next step to becoming a wise woman – trusting God – is like that in a way. The more we practice trust, the more easily we’re able to do it. When a trial comes into our life, trusting God gets a little easier and becomes a bit more second nature to us.
My favorite verses on trusting God are Proverbs 3:5, 6.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
I want to grow in my walk with God to the place where I wholeheartedly trust God, acknowledge that His way is best, and follow His plan for me. So how do I build my trust?
1. Praying. Trust begins when I recognize that I need to take my problems to God. That part is often easier than what comes next – actually leaving my request with Him. Trusting God to bring about the outcome that is for my good and His glory can be difficult. I may need to take it to God in prayer over and over and over again!
2. Resting. By this, I mean letting go of what I perceive as my control of a situation and resting in the promises I find in the Bible. Psalm 9:10 says, “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” I know that God loves me, He sees and knows all, and He is trustworthy.
3. Remembering. When I can look back and see how God has taken care of me in the past, I know He’ll do it again. God is faithful. Ann Voskamp describes it this way in her book One Thousand Gifts.
“Trust is the bridge from yesterday to tomorrow, built with planks of thanks. Remembering frames up gratitude. Gratitude lays out the planks of trust. I can walk the planks – from known to unknown – and know: He holds.
Remembering is an act of thanksgiving, this turn of the heart over time’s shoulder to see all the long way His arms have carried.”
I love what the Bible says my reward is as I learn to trust God.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” ~Isaiah 26:3
Perfect peace. How I want to have that present in my life as I seek to become a wise woman.
Simply trusting every day;
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus that is all.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him, whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all
(Stites/Sankey)
Is there a situation in your life in which you’re failing to trust God? Let’s pry open the fingers of our control and release it to Him, accepting His direction and trusting Him fully.
Find earlier posts in this series here.
Related posts:
Afraid? Trust
Still Learning to Trust
From the Why to the Who
Sometimes I forget to pray, so of course, I don't follow any of the rest of the steps. But when I do remember to pray — and then leave my worries with the Lord — I'm amazed at the peace He sends me.
RESTING! That's definitely my biggest challenge!