Three Reasons to Trust God

 “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:34).

Tears rolled down my face when I found out the house I had my eye on went under contract with someone else. It seemed perfect for us but the timing was not quite right. We still had more improvements to make on our current home before we could put it on the market.

Why couldn’t you hold that house for us? I asked God. I thought when we were obedient, you would give us the desires of our heart?

My husband, not as emotional about the process, said, “Didn’t we pray about this? Didn’t we ask God to provide the house he wanted us to purchase?”

Sniffle, Sniffle. “Yes.”

“Well then, why are you so upset?” he asked.

He had a point, but I had my heart set on that particular house and didn’t think there were any others that compared.

The next day our real estate agent said, “I have two houses for you to look at and I think you will really like one of them.”

And she was right. The second one we went into was even more beautiful than the one I had the meltdown about. It was a better floor plan for a downsize than the other and it had a beautiful backyard, very important to this nature lover.

At that point I realized God did have my best interests in mind. He did care and knew better than I did what would be a good home for a couple of empty nesters. I asked him to forgive me for not trusting him during this season.

Why should we trust God?

1. He sees the road ahead. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “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.” When we lean on God to help us make our decisions, we have to trust him when he steers us another direction or says, “no.” There is probably a good reason for things not working out. When the Apostle Paul was on his missionary journey, the Holy Spirit prevented him from preaching the word in the province of Asia. He was tuned into God’s GPS, not his own. Although Paul might not have understood the reroute, he trusted that God knew what was ahead.

2. He will hold us up even through the bad times. Psalm 112:6-7 says, “Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.“ The most difficult time to trust God is during the rocky periods of life, but we have to trust there is a reason for everything under the sun. As much as we hate to admit it, our periods of greatest spiritual growth are usually during the worst of times, not the best. God often allows troubles and pitfalls to draw us closer to him. He is a jealous God. You can see his pattern many times over when dealing with his beloved Israel. When his people turned away from him by worshipping other gods and not following his laws, he allowed calamity to draw them back.

3. He loves us. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives because our Father in Heaven will take care of us. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” God wants to take care of us out of his abundant love. Ephesians 3:19 says God’s love surpasses our knowledge. It is beyond our comprehension how much he cares. Even when our feelings betray us, we have to trust that God is our everlasting father and as a loving father, he desires the best for us (Isaiah 9:6).

I don’t know if the new house I found will be “the one” but what I realized is that I have to trust God with the process. If this one doesn’t work out, he will provide the right home in the right place at the right price. And because I trust in him, I also trust he will give me the desires of my heart.

What situation are you facing right now? Do you trust him in the midst of it?