To Trust or not to Trust – That is the Question

Friday brought me to a place of choice. I was confronted with a depression so deep that I had to decide if I really wanted to trust in God. It was a test.  I don’t know exactly who or what initiated this trust confrontation but I knew I had come to a decision point.

I’m not unusual (at least not in this area.) I think all Christians come to a point of decision. Things go great for a time and then we are hit with a chance to trust God while things are not going so great.

We get hit with circumstances that many say are not supposed to happen to the believer. I was reminded of a dear elderly lady named Rosie whose body was racked with pain. While I was with her she had a visitor (a young new Christian with not enough life experience) who told her that she could be healed if she just had enough trust. It just didn't seem right or fair that this godly lady who had followed the Lord for so many years should have to go through this. Did she not trust enough? If she was trusting God then why did she have to endure this suffering?

Then gracious godly Rosie said with love and kindness to this little pip squeak that the greatest trust comes in the middle of great trials. God brought this remembrance to my mind during my down in the pit time this week. It’s been years since I thought about Rosie.

God also led me to 1 Peter 1:6-9:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We, Christians, go through trials of all kinds and colors (that’s what the Greek word for various means.) What may be a trial for me may not be a trial for you. What is grieving your soul may not be what I’m dealing with. But all of this unfair, painful, not supposed to happen to us stuff is really a test to the genuineness of our faith. Do we still trust after all this junk that happens to us?

When people watch our life through tragedy do they see us praise and glorify our Lord? Do they wonder what makes us love and worship a God we haven’t seen? Do they wonder at our commitment to His leading and Lordship when it looks like there isn't a reason? Does it lead them to Jesus?

And then a Facebook friend (My Minister of Praise and Worship Josh) posted on Facebook a song by Meredith Andrews – Not for a Moment (After All.)Here are some of the words that spoke to my heart:

And every step every breath You are there

Every tear every cry every prayer

In my hurt at my worst

When my world falls apart

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Even in the dark

Even when it’s hard

You will never leave me

After all You are constant

After all You are good

After all You are sovereign

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Not for a moment will You forsake me

My answer to the trust issue was like dear Rosie (who is enjoying heaven now.)  Yes, I will trust My God because after all and through it all He is constant, good, and sovereign. I will love and trust Him because not for a moment during all the mess I will go through will He forsake me.

Thank you Rosie, Apostle Peter, and Facebook Friend.

Thank You Lord Jesus.