Trust… Lean Not… Acknowledge

I recently was asked to teach a ladies Sunday school class on short notice. I began praying about what I should do and the Lord brought these verses to my mind. He brings me back to these verses in my life quite often and it had been awhile since I had reviewed back through them. I ended up teaching these verses. The lesson was more for me but it turns out that there were some other ladies in the class that needed them too! I thought I would share some of what the Lord is teaching me in case some of you are needing them as well.

Grammatically, the word TRUST is a command not an option!  For some of us, trust is a difficult thing to do especially when we have been through situations in life that have made it difficult for us to naturally trust other people.  The definition of TRUST is “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”.  Those are some big shoes for someone to fill, let alone the reality of finding someone who can fill them!  Yet, there is Someone.

Who does the Lord ask us to trust in?  The word LORD means Jehovah or the Self-Existent or Eternal One.  When the Lord commands us to TRUST, He doesn’t ask us to put this definition to practice in just anyone.  He asks us to put that trust in the One that is the “…same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)  Why can we TRUST the LORD?  If we read Psalms 100:3-5 we find several reasons why we can trust Him.

*because of He created us

*because He is worthy to be praised

*because of Him we can be thankful

*because He is good

*because His mercy is everlasting

*because He is truthful and His truth endures forever

There are a lot of things in these verses that tell us about God’s CHARACTER.  If we know what a person is really like on the inside, we will be more apt to trust what they say.  

How are we to trust Him?

Here we find another command.  God doesn’t want just part of our trust.  He wants ALL of it.  Our hearts are the “center of the feelings, will and intellect”.  He wants us to trust Him with our emotions, our wills and with our thoughts.  Again, because of Who He is and ALL that He has done for us, we can trust him fully.  We find this command to love Him with all of our hearts way back in the Old Testament when God was teaching the children of Israel how they were to live for Him in the midst of heathen lands. 

If we truly love someone, we will TRUST them.  If we find we don’t love the LORD the way we should because of our sin or unresolved experiences in our past, we wont trust Him.  Since it is a command to TRUST and love Him, we need to deal with those things so we can be obedient to His commands and have the fellowship and guidance in our lives that we need and He promises to give us.

Along with the command that we are to TRUST God with all of our hearts, comes the command:

This is usually where these verses will convict me the most.  What is God saying to us?

 Lean not unto thine own-“do NOT rely or rest on one’s self for support”

Understanding (discernment)- “ones’s comprehension and grasp of what is obscure”

The problem with relying on our own comprehension of a situation that we might not fully understand is that we lack God’s perspective and we don’t factor His perspective into what we are not understanding.

When I rely on my own understanding of a situation, I refuse to accept a higher purpose or plan for my life.  A plan that is better but will be lost because I choose to TRUST in myself and my control of the situation instead of putting my TRUST in God and His plan for my life.

What are we to trust Him for?

Here we find another command.  We are to acknowledge Him in ALL of our ways.

All- “the whole amount, quantity, or extent of”

Ways- “course of life”

Acknowledge- “to recognize the rights, authority or status of”

In every course of life, in every decision that we make, we are commanded to TRUST and love the LORD by consulting His opinion, rights and authority FIRST in our plans.  If we aren’t sure what His plans may be for our lives, we should receive counsel from our Pastor and be willing to ACKNOWLEDGE and accept what he says.  If we choose to not acknowledge God’s opinion on a matter, we should not expect God to bless decisions that we have not consulted Him about.  If we lean on our own understanding of a situation, we may lose out on what is BEST for our lives.   

What does God promise us if we acknowledge Him?

God promised prosperity and health to the children of Israel if they would just love Him and be obedient to Him.  He promised to lead them in the right way and give them protection from their enemies.  He gives those same promises to us.

Shall- “promise/will have to”

Direct- “to point, extend, or project in a specified line or course”

One of the awesome things about God’s character is that once He promises something, He has to fulfill that promise!  He promises us to help us find perfect direction in a matter if we will just TRUST, LOVE and ACKNOWLEDGE Him in our lives instead of relying on our own understanding.  We may not see all that He is doing in this moment, but we can have the peace of knowing that we are headed in the direction that God wants us to be headed in when we do what He asks of us.

Ladies, it all goes back to the original thought of TRUST.  What or who are we trusting in?  If we are saved, we have already trusted the Lord with one of the most precious things that we have- our souls.  Why not learn to TRUST Him also with the lives that we are living here on earth while we are waiting for that time when our souls will be taken to heaven.  If we are having a problem with TRUST, maybe it is because we have not trusted Him as Lord and Saviour of our lives.  If we have not come to the conclusion that He is worthy to be TRUSTED because of His character and all that He has done for us, we will not live out God’s best for our lives.  I will leave you with a few more verses about TRUST.