“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13

I have been thinking a lot about trusting God lately. And just recently, I began to question my trust in God in a particular area of my life. But I realised today that the reason why I was doubting was because things didn’t look they way I thought they should. I think I was beginning to expect the feeling or experience of trusting God to be different in this situation. It looked like God wasn’t hearing my prayers. I think I was expecting that trusting God would mean that things wouldn’t be hard or would be different somehow. I had the mentality that “If I trust God than ‘X’ should be the outcome.”

As I reflected I was both comforted and challenged. I was comforted by the reminder that just because things don’t look like I expect them to, doesn’t mean I’m not trusting God. But I was challenged to stop trying to dictate what trusting God actually looks like, to stop trying to be in control.

I was also reminded that its through these times that God tests our faith. It’s easy to trust God when things look like we think they should, when what we think is good lines up with God’s idea of good. But it’s those times when we can’t see why we feel like we do or why certain things are happening that our contentment is really evident. Anyone can be content when they have everything they want.

The Apostle Paul is such a great testimony to this. No matter what his situation, whether it looked great or was really painful, he had learnt to trust God. That’s why he could say with confidence that he knew what it means to be content despite his circumstances. Contentment comes from trusting who God is, from really believing His good promises.

But that’s not to say it’s wrong to question what God is doing. Job did and he was called righteous before his friends. Sometimes this questioning can lead to a clearer understanding of who God is and a greater sense of peace about the chaos that seems to go on around us. Questioning sharpens our minds and strengthens our faith. And that is only a good thing.

Unbelief

How wrong Dr Spock is...

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)

This has been my prayer almost everyday recently. I have begun to realise a great deal of our problems in our relationship with God come from unbelief, a lack of trust in Him. This is largely because some fear or another is driving our desire to be self reliant. Yet the crazy thing is that it is actually much more frightening when we are in control. We are sinful, limited human beings yet we still fail to trust that the all-powerful, all-knowing, creator of the universe, our good and loving God knows what he is doing. This is ABSURD!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

God has promised that he has good things in store for His children but we continue to lack trust. We don’t believe that this is really true otherwise we would only trust God all the time. But we continue think we know better than God, that we can really make the best decisions regarding what is good for us. This too is ABSURD!!

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11)