Do you, in the course of your day, come across something that is simply hard to do? We all do. Working alongside a certain coworker; responding in kindness to someone who has hurt you; trusting someone who promised to be there when you needed them, but when the crunch time came to your life, they were no where to be found, can all be difficult. This last one, trusting others, is very hard.
We do not just struggle with people around us. A lot of us struggle with trusting God. We may find it easier to trust God when things are going well, but when you’re looking at your car that was just in an accident or you discover something out of the ordinary on your body, when people try to take advantage of you, do you trust God even then?
What makes life easier to take is when we learn to relax and to trust God for the big stuff; to trust in the fact that God is in control, that no leaf falls to the ground without God knowing about it; that no snowflake falls apart from His knowledge.
In Isaiah 45:7, God says, “I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the one who ends good times and allows hard times. I the Lord, am the one who does these things.”
Now, you may find this hard to accept. You may think about some difficult, maybe tragic experience in your past and you ask, “Do you mean to tell me that God was watching the whole time?”
I don’t know why God allowed that to happen to you, but He was there. He loves you and hurts with you. Maybe you have a hard time accepting that answer. Think about this; is there ever a time where God loses touch, where He dozes off for a few moments? No. He never, ever does. He’s always at work.
In the Bible, a young man named Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt. I am sure he wondered what God was up to. But in the end, he was able to say to his brothers, God turned into good what you meant for evil.”
Jesus, before his crucifixion, was in a garden. He begged God to change the itinerary. He didn’t want to die. But He was willing to, to pay for the sins of you and me. Did God hear Jesus’ prayer? Yes. Did He spare Jesus? No. But God would work things out for a greater good.
Maybe today you are going through a season in the garden. Hope is found in believing that no matter how things look, you can confidently trust God to do what is best. No struggle comes your way that God doesn’t know about. He is ready to stand by you, walk with you through the uncertain forests of your tomorrow. When we trust God, then nothing that comes our way comes by chance. When you choose to live your life in a relationship with God, you walk this earth under the protective hand of God Himself, who oversees every circumstance in your life and delights to bring good even when all you see is bad.
Are you finding it hard to trust God in your circumstance? Seek to plant deep within yourself the phrase, ‘God knows and does what is best.’ Seek to trust Him. He loves you too much to let you be destroyed.
Be encouraged. Things that happen to you may not make sense, they might even be painful. But when we trust God and choose to love Him, He works out all things for our good. It may be the most difficult thing you have ever done, but take that step and do it. Trust God, He will never let you down.
This column was provided by Tri-Community Baptist Church in Beiseker.
