Resolving to Trust

     Here we are once again at the threshold of a new year.  Many people begin making resolutions which usually last, on average, one or two weeks; so rather than fall into this pit myself, I decided to take a scripture principle and work on this during 2013.  Since our Sunday School class has been studying Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones', "The Sermon on the Mount", I selected the call of our Lord to "hunger and thirst after righteousness."  Daily it was my prayer that God would increase my appetite for His Word and for obedience.  Have I conquered this?  By no means, but I have made progress as I focused on this aspect of Christian living.  I would rather commit myself to the Lord and allow Him to work in my life than rely upon my own resolve which does not last long.  With this in mind, I desire to build a deeper trust in the Lord this coming year.  It is an area that many of us need work on.
     During our tour of "The Sermon on the Mount" this past week, we discussed "worry and anxiety". One of the key reasons we worry (which is sin) is because we do not trust God.  Even though He is our Creator, Redeemer, and mighty King, we somehow think we need to help Him out in situations.  Such was the case of the Israelites when the Lord was providing food for them in Exodus 16 starting in verse 16.  The people complained against Moses and Aaron because they did not have much food in the wilderness.  God instructed Moses and Aaron that He would provide a bread like substance to feed his people daily.  The Israelites were supposed to collect only enough for each person to eat that day. However on the sixth day they were to collect double the amount so they would have enough to eat on the Sabbath.  God was testing the people to see if they would follow His instructions and trust Him.  Exodus 16:19-21 describes what the people did:  "19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it until morning.” 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses. Some kept part of it until morning, but it became infested with worms and stank. Moses got angry with them. 21 Every morning they gathered it, as much as each person could eat. But when the sun grew hot, it melted away."  There were two issues here.  One is that the people obviously did not trust God for a daily provision.  They took matters into their own hands and gathered extra thinking to have more in the morning.  Secondly, they did not obey the instructions given to them.
     Those people of God who followed what the Lord told them to do had plenty of food each day as they went along.  The Lord was their provision as He is ours.  The Israelites who did not listen to God but gathered extra for the next day only discovered a wormy, stinking mess.  Nothing has changed much in the years since the Old and New Testament was written.  Man is still trying to "help" God because he does not trust Him.  We would rather worry or stew in our own stinky mess than to lean on God and rest in Him for our daily provision.  Personally, I do not want to live like that.  Instead, I want to learn to trust God with all my needs according to His riches in glory.  Won't you join me in this year long growing experience?
     One of the verses I want to pray every day comes from Proverbs 3:5-6:  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."  What beautiful words of wisdom!  It is a declaration that we will not lean on our understanding of circumstances but will trust in the Lord.  This will help our faith to grow when we declare to ourselves daily that we will trust in the Lord with all our heart.  Pray it, declare it to yourself and others and live it.  As we do, our trust in God will grow as we watch Him provide for our needs.
      Whether you choose to join me in my desire to grow in trusting the Lord or not, I encourage you to pick a biblical principle and rely upon the Lord's strength to help you grow strong in an area of your Christian walk.  I guarantee that God honors His Word and will help you to grow in His daily grace.  This is far better than making resolutions in our own strength that we will quickly give up on.
If you desire to grow in trust this new year, let me hear from you.  We can pray for one another as we seek to glorify God together.  Selah!

From our home to yours:  May God bless you in the New Year ahead.