How Can I Trust in the Lord?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path” – 

Trust In The Lord

There is a reason why that verse says, “all your heart.”  Trusting in the Lord with all your heart means, He alone is the one you are trusting to direct you to the right path.  You simply ask Him and wait on the answer.

I like to write out my questions and then record the answer in my journal.  When you ask the Lord for direction and He gives you the answer, you trust Him even though you don’t fully understand it.  You can’t wait until you understand everything.  If you wait until you understand, then you are trusting in yourself.  There are some things we will never understand and that is why we need faith to trust God.

Holding on to the past can be a major block when you are trying to trust the Lord.  If you are rehearsing all of your past mistakes then you can’t hear what He is telling you to do in the present.  You will be hindered from moving forward until you let go of the past and release all of the people who let you down.  Forgive yourself and others and then trust God to direct your steps from this day forward.

When you just don’t understand…

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path”.  – Proverbs 3:5

Do you have a difficult time trusting God? Do you worry, fear, or stress about circumstances in your daily life? If you’re having a difficult time trusting God, I want you to understand something. Take a look at your relationship with your earthy father. Like looking through dark sun glasses, you may be seeing your heavenly Father dimly.  The way we viewed our earthly father can hinder us from seeing God as He really is.  As a child you look to your father for direction, if he was not trust worthy then it hinders you from trusting your heavenly Father.

Take a minute and reflect back, have you been defiled by your father’s actions?

If you were rejected by your father you may be fearful God does not love and accept you. If you were abandoned, you may be fearful that God will leave you.  These fears are defiling you and blocking your view disabling you from seeing God clearly.

Forgive your father for all his wrongdoing and release those bad memories of his mistakes.  Ask God for a pure heart so you can see Him clearly. Through healing you will be able to trust God as your loving Father.

 

God Will Answer

“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness…You have freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was distressed…” Psalm 4:1

Have you ever felt hemmed in, trapped and unable to move?  At that moment you can call upon God, and He will answer you.  He will lift you up and free you from the present bondage.  He will never leave you or forsake you.

The children of Israel were hemmed in and unable to move when they were in bondage in Egypt.  But they cried out and called upon God, and He answered. God sent Moses to lead them and deliver them out of bondage and captivity.

If you too feel you are hemmed in, call out to God!  He will answer when you call.

The Psalmist David said, “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high and defend you…send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion.” Psalm 20:1-2 Amp

What Do You Magnify?

And Mary said, “My soul doeth magnify the Lord” Luke 1:46

What do you magnify?  Magnify, according to Strong’s Concordance means, to make or declare great.   Whatever we magnify becomes bigger and bigger in our mind.  If you magnify a problem then you can’t see the solution, all you see is the problem. Think about Mary’s problem. The angel came to her and said, “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus.”  (Luke 1:31)

Mary’s response in Luke 1:38 was, “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be to me according to what you have said.”  She would soon be pregnant and unwed.  That could have been a huge problem.  But, Mary did not focus on the problem; her attention was on God.  She trusted God!  If this was of Him, He had the answer.  So, she looked to the Lord and magnified Him!

Today, take your mind off your problem, focus on the Lord and His blessings.  You will see the problem decrease and the Lord will be magnified.

Faith to Stand Firmly Planted

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  I Corinthians 2:9

Firmly planted in FaithYour faith in God is the foundation that you stand on when times are hard.  The man that built his house upon the sand was swept away when the violent store came.  But, the man’s house that was built upon the rock stood strong.  You will be able to stand strong as you keep your faith in God and His promises.

In every situation look to the Word of God, declare and decree what His Word says.  Life and death are in the power of your tongue, so speak forth life. Don’t give in to the situation; declare what God says.  Take every fearful and anxious thought captive; overcome it before it leaves your mouth.  Those fearful thoughts must be overcome or they can cause you to fall and be swept away when the hard times come.

Put your faith in All Mighty God!  Be His representative.  Stand firm and declare His Kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Then stand back and watch God change the circumstances as you declare His Word!

 

Discouraged? Perhaps Look at Your Expectations

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”   Psalm 27:13

God is With YouWhen we delight in the Lord and set our hearts on the goodness of the Lord we can carry His goodness and His loving presence into every situation.  David knew he could not look at the circumstances.  He had to keep his eyes on the goodness of the Lord.   He said, “I would have fainted if I had not expected to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  He set his heart and his expectations on seeing the salvation of the Lord in every situation, no matter what giant he faced.  David set his expectations high, higher than the earthly realm and he overcame his enemies.  If you are feeling discouraged and defeated, maybe you need to change your expectations.

Look at Peter, he also had to keep his eyes and expectations set high.  He kept his eyes on the Lord as he miraculously walked on the water towards Jesus.  It was a great day for Peter in the middle of that miraculous situation.  Peter placed his eyes on Jesus and stepped out on the water.  It must have been an amazing moment for Peter as he exercised his Faith and stepped out of the boat.  Of course, as long as he had his eyes on Jesus he was overcoming, but… when he looked down and then he began sink.

Obviously, it is vital that we keep our eyes on Jesus.  Don’t look down; keep your eyes upon the Lord and your expectations set high on miraculous places He wants you to walk.  Just like Peter and David, we will see God work amazing miracles in our lives.

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  Psalm 62:5

The Lord Will Raise You Up

“The Lord raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill, that He may seat them with princes, even the princes of His people.”  Psalm 113:7-8

God will Raise You UpThe plan of our Heavenly Father is to raise His children up to sit in heavenly places.  He wants to raise you up to a higher place than the place where you are sitting right now.  If you are poor and needy He wants you to shake off the dust of doubt and worry and trust in Him for your provision.

Even in the most horrible conditions, we can trust in God to lift us up.  He is a very present help in times of trouble. (Ps 62:1)  Even if, like the Prodigal son, you look around and wonder how you got yourself into such a mess.  At this very moment, you can come to your senses and realize as a child of God you are in the wrong place.  The low places are not the places where God’s children are to stay.

He wants to lift you up.  So, look up to your Heavenly Father and ask Him to take you up to the place where you belong as His child.

Learning to Trust Again

“He heals the brokenhearted and bindeth up their wounds. Psalms 147:3

Learning to Trust AgainGod has made full provision for healing the pain of past so you can trust again.

Have you ever trusted someone to love you that did not know how to love? Or have you ever loved someone that did not know how to receive your love? In both cases you will experience rejection. This type of rejection is very painful especially when it comes from someone whom you really trust. The pain from being hurt by someone you trust is much greater than being hurt by a casual friend. It takes years to build trust, but it only takes a moment of rejection to tear down trust. This is because when you trust someone, you open your heart up to them. When they reject you, the natural tendency is to close your heart to them in order to avoid being hurt again. The pain that comes from rejection creates a big wound that must be healed in order to be able to trust that person again.

Jesus made complete provision for our physical and emotional healing. But many people are stuck, “locked in time” desperately needing to be set free from the pain of the past. One way many people try to get rid of pain is to just forget what happened and forget about the person who hurt them. You can tear that person out of your address book and for a while you will be able to forget what happened but if healing did not occur the pain is still there. The pain that lingers from the past keeps you tied to the past. Isaiah, the prophet, said in Isaiah 1:4-6 that those people who have not been healed will go backwards. Like taking one step forward and then two steps backward, you aren’t getting anywhere.

Another way many people deal with pain is to run from it or pretend it really isn’t there. Pain is like a shadow you look around and it is still there no matter how fast you run. That is why so many people are walking around with the shadow of the past still on them. Pain must be faced and dealt with in order for it to be put away. Instead of running from pain, stop, turn around and face it. Pain must be faced to be healed. You may be one who has received some healing, but the pain still remains. Jeremiah 6:14 also says that when a person has only been healed slightly, they say peace, peace, but when there is no peace. The amount of peace you are having can be a good indicator of how much healing you have received. Once you are healed and the pain is gone you will be ale to hold your heart open again and trust. Healing produces trust in you. If the person that hurt you has proven over and over to not be trustworthy, suggest they also receive healing. Healing produces trustworthiness in them. Then wait on the Lord to give you peace.

The following steps can be taken to work through healing. These steps will need to be repeated out loud or written down several times during the healing process. You will experience the peace of the Lord as you go through this process. Now is the time for healing!

1. Step one for healing is to face it.

Who hurt you? _________

Who left you? __________

Who did not receive you? __________

Who refused to love you? ___________

 

2. Step two for healing is to face what you lost.

Did you loose a good friend?

Did you loose a husband?

Did you loose a wife?

Fill in the blank, I lost _________.

 

3. Step three for healing is to accept that the thing you lost is gone.

Make a list and write down all that you have lost.

I accept the fact that ____________is gone.

 

4. Step four for healing is to acknowledge to the Lord that you have been hurt and angry.

Lord, I have been angry at __________ for ___________.

I ask you to forgive me, and cleanse my heart of this anger.

 

5. Step five for healing is to release what you have lost.

Lord, I ask for your help to be set free from this pain. Lord by myself I can not accept the losses. I ask for your help to accept what I have lost. I accept the reality that _________ is gone; and I release (person or thing).

6. Step six for healing is to forgive the person.

Lord, I choose to forgive __________ for hurting me. They owe me nothing.

 

7. Step seven for healing.

My hope is in You, Lord. I know You are the one that gives life. Not the person or the things I have lost.

 

8. Step eight for healing is to choose life.

Lord, I choose Life; help me to continue looking forward towards the life you have given me.

 

Where Can I Go to Find Safety?

“It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”  Psalm 118:8

In the days we are living, there is troubling news on every side.  There are wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes in various places. Everywhere you turn, you hear of devastation. Many are like the man who called our office today from another country asking: Where do I go where it is safe? I couldn’t tell him whether or not he should leave his country, but I could tell him to take refuge in the Lord and He would lead him to safety.

In Ps 91:2, the psalmist David says the “Place of Refuge” or safety is the secret place where you go to spend time with God.  In the secret place, your quite time, all voices are silenced and you can focus on hearing the voice of God.

God is your refuge. He is the only one who knows the answer to your present problems.  Take refuge in Him and the answer will quickly come. In the refuge of the Lord, the enemy cannot touch you, taunt you, or discourage you.  You are safe under the shadow of His wings.  Find the secret place every day.  There you can find rest for your soul and strength to overcome the trials of these difficult days.

Psalm 112:7, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is firmly fixed.”

This is the way, so now walk in it

Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk ye in it”  Isaiah 30:21 

Path of GodWhen we have decisions to make and doubts are flooding our soul and others suggest courses of action that are conflicting, when caution dictates one approach but faith the other, it is the time to stop and be still.  The scripture says, “Be still and know, I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  This gives us the permission that it is “ok” to quiet the intruding opinion of others around us and then calm ourselves into the stillness of God’s presence and wait to hear His gentile voice.

It sometimes takes courage to wait in silence trusting that He will not be silent. It takes courage to bypass all the words of well meaning friends.  It takes courage to not be pulled by those who are insisting on an immediate decision or action.  It takes courage to wait on, trust in, and rely on the Lord to direct you in those difficult decisions.

God is ever present in times of trouble.  When important decisions need to be made, you will hear His voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” Once you hear clearly and the decision is made, a friend may then be used by the Lord to give confirmation and support. So be still and wait on the Lord, He is not silent.

“Unto you do I cry, O Lord my rock, be not deaf and silent to me…”  Psalm 28:1

The Right Path: Lord, as I still myself before You, help me to block out all intruding thoughts and opinions. I pray as David did that You will not be silent, I ask You to speak to me and give me direction in each decision I am making today. I desire to hear You say: “This is the way, walk in it.”