Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but thouse who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. (Psalms 34:10)
It can sometimes be quite a cliche to say that we, “Trust In The Lord”.
And many of us do claim to trust God.
But what does that really mean?
What’s the difference between people who put their faith in God and those who don’t?
We may say that we trust God, but do our daily words, thoughts, and deeds fall in line with what we claim to believe?
Today is a good day to take some time and reflect on this.
Let’s say you’re hoping for a promotion. Do you stress yourself out worrying about whether or not you can outsmart your competition? Or do you trust God’s guidance and rest in the knowledge that He’ll lift you up to the right place, at the right time?
Or perhaps you’re in need of financial help. Bills are piling up and you simply don’t have the resources to pay them off. Will you be filled with distress? Or will you be praising God for His supply and providence?
If you receive a large financial windfall tomorrow and God tells you to give it all away. Would you? Or maybe you’ll be thinking, “I prayed so hard in order for this to happen! And God is telling me to give it all away?”
You see, our unfiltered thoughts, words, and deeds often reveal what we truly believe in.
That’s why James 2:14-26 says that faith without works is dead.
Now some people take this to mean that we need to do good works in order to be saved.
But that can’t be sure because Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we’re saved by grace through faith alone, and not by our works.
So what then does “faith without works is dead” mean?
Well, it’ll all start making sense if we think of faith as a seed (e.g. mustard seed) or plant.
If a seed is dead, will it be able to grow leaves? If a fig tree is dead, will it be able to bear fruit?
Therefore, if we claim to believe in God, but our thoughts, words, and deeds do not align with what we claim to believe, do we truly trust God? Or is our faith dead?
It’s easy to claim that we love and trust God. But often when we examine our thoughts, we realize that we’re sometimes lying to ourselves.
If we truly believe that God is our infinite supply, why would it be difficult for us to give away our windfall?
If we truly believe that God will make us the head and not the tail and that the battle is His, why would we feel the need to scheme and plot?
If you prayed for rain tomorrow, would you bring an umbrella when you leave home?
If you prayed for someone’s legs to be healed, will you prepare a new pair of running shoes?
Of course, we can always bring an umbrella with us or buy a new pair of shoes to try and convince ourselves that we believe, but that’s not the way it works.
It’s our spontaneous, unfiltered, unprepared thoughts, words, and deeds that show us what we truly believe in. They show us whether our faith is dead, or alive.
If you’re about to leave our house, and you catch yourself thinking, “Oh! I better bring an umbrella. It’s going to rain later.” Then you know you have living faith for rain.
What shall we do then, if we don’t seem to have faith for a certain area of our lives?
Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
As we fill our spirit with God’s word. As we spend more time in His presence. As we get to know His kindness, goodness, gentleness, strength, etc. All the wonderful characteristics of our amazing God. That’s when our faith will naturally grow.
You can’t pull a seedling out of a seed to try and make it grow faster.
But you can water it, fertilize it, sing to it even, to give it the most conducive environment to grow and sprout.
So keep watering your spirit with the word of God. And before you know it, your seed of faith would have blossomed into a robust tree, full of life and fruits.
Be Greatly Blessed!
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Action Steps:
Stop trying to pretend that you have faith. There’s no need for any pretense in front of God.
If there are any areas in your life that you’re worried about, hand them over to God and ask Him to guide you in knowing Him better through His word.
If you need healing, look at how Jesus healed all who came to him for healing.
If you need provisions, look at how God provided for the Israelites day and night for over forty years.
If you need assurance of your salvation, look at how Jesus told the women caught in adultery that He’ll not condemn her. Or how He told the thief on the cross that he shall be with Jesus in heaven that very day.
Stop worrying about whether or not God will come through for you. Instead, praise and thank God for the fact that He has already come through for you.
It may seem like a contradiction that defies logic, but it’s not.
The truth is, Jesus already died on the Cross and rose from the grave. God has already given you all His blessings, all His promises.
All that needs to be done, has already been done when Jesus cried, “It Is Finished!”
The only thing that’s left, if for you to receive your blessings and miracles.
And you receive them through your faith, your praises, and your thanksgiving.
When you start knowing God so intimately that you just want to jump up and shout “Hallelujah!”, then you’ll know that your seed of faith has sprouted.
Let’s pray…
Prayer:
Father, teach me to trust you today.
Take away all my pretense and all my acting.
I come to you just as I am.
I know there are areas of my life where I don’t yet fully trust you.
So guide me and help me to know you more intimately.
Teach me to be more like Jesus.
When a lame man was before Him, He saw whole, healthy man healed by His stripes.
In the midst of a storm and boisterous waves, He saw peace.
Standing in front of thousands of hungry people, He saw provision.
As a woman caught in adultery lay before Him, He saw a righteous daughter of God through His finished work.
O Lord, open the eyes of my heart. That I may see as Jesus sees and act as Jesus acts.
I’ll trust in you more and more each day, as I grow closer and closer to you.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
AMEN!