I used to think trust was just having courage when God called me to do things that I didn’t want to do. But now I’m learning that trust is so much more. Trust is following God, no matter what circumstance He puts me in. Trust is allowing Him to make all His decisions before hurling all my ideas at Him and expecting Him to fill each one perfectly. Trust is thriving in the unknown, when I want an answer now.
Trust is not knowing what I’m doing this summer, because some people mixed up a few numbers. I now have to wait indefinitely to hear if a spot opens up for me. If it doesn’t, I have to find a job in my hometown. If it does, I have to find a job in Southern California and fundraise for my living expenses.
The scary part is not doing anything at this point. I can prepare as much as I need for either option, but only God knows the outcome, and how it will weave into the tapestry of my life. This is where my trust in His divine plan is being tested the most: do I trust that His plans for me are good and that they will work out? Do I trust that He will provide? Most of all, do I trust that He is placing me where I need to be this summer?
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
God is not surprised by what we do or what circumstances we find ourselves in. I believe in a God who is omnipotent and omniscient, one who constructs and guides me through circumstances for reasons that are too great for me to fathom. And I believe that my God is good. I can’t say all these things about myself, so I’m pretty certain I should allow the One who is to take charge.
One of my all-time favorite verses (and a potential tattoo idea) comes from Psalm 125, one of the Psalms of Ascent that the Israelites would recite as they scaled mountains to get to Jerusalem three times a year for holy feasts. Psalm 125:1 says “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever” (ESV). We won’t be shaken by the little things, because in the grand scheme of eternity, they are just tiny blips on the radar. We might have to endure some difficult weather, and we might come out looking a little rougher than before. But as 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 says, “we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (ESV). If trusting God is preparing me for eternal glory, I’ll take it.
-Jos
jos in progress. 