Trust

“Never trust anyone completely but God. Love people, but put your full trust only in God.” (Lawrence Welk)

 [Verse 1]
If I were You I would've given up on me by now
I would've labeled me a lost cause
'Cause I feel just like a lost cause
If I were You I would've turned around and walked away
I would've labeled me beyond repair
'Cause I feel like I'm beyond repair

[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, but somehow You don't see me like I do
Somehow You're still here

[Chorus]
You're the God who stays
You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You're the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays

[Verse 2]
I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I'm learning You don't work that way

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
My shame can't separate
My guilt can't separate
My past can't separate
I'm Yours forever
My sin can't separate
My scars can't separate
My failures can't separate
I'm Yours forever
No enemy can separate
No power of hell can take away
Your love for me will never change
I'm Yours forever

[Chorus-2x]

We’ve all had hard days (and maybe even hard years) when life just didn’t seem to be going our way. Matthew West’s song, “The God Who Stays,” (above) expresses beautifully all the emotions that accompany a life event like this. Unlike people, your heavenly Father will not walk away from you when you need Him most. Our struggles are crafted by a wise Heavenly Father who fits the trial to the person. He uses hard times to sharpen your faith.

God planted in us a desire to be with Him. Only in Heaven will we feel perfect peace and happiness. Until we reach our final destination, we must learn to live with the inner voids that create a longing for eternity. But how do we deal with suffering? How do we apply the comforting truths of the Bible to the harsh realities of this world? Here are five things to remember.

Remember God is good all the time. There are many mysteries we’ll never understand on this side of Heaven. I’ll never understand why babies die, people starve, kids lose their parents, people are murdered and abused and there is so much evil, brokenness and hatred. What I do know is that God is good, God is love and God is light. While it seems at times that darkness is taking over, God will have the final word.

The One in us is greater than the one in the world, and that is our ultimate security. One day, God will restore order, and those who are faithful will be rewarded in Heaven. The enemy is real, and his goal is to separate us from God and make us doubt His goodness. The way to send the enemy running is to stay close with and trust God even when you don’t understand the circumstances. Armor yourself with God’s truth and wisdom and trust that any adversity you face can be used by God to serve a greater good. There may be a bigger story at play.

Remember God isn’t scared of your mess. Unlike humans, God’s patience is unlimited. In big and little messes, He cares, and even the worst hardships can’t turn Him off because trials are His opportunity to do His best work. His power is made perfect in weakness, and His office is at the end of your rope. Even if you’re not confident in yourself, you can be confident in Him. You can show faith by praising Him in advance for His plans and the work He can do to bring good from your struggle.

Remember God’s miracles. The Bible is full of miracles, but one that’s particularly relevant happened to Peter. The disciples were on a boat that had been blown far away from shore when they saw Jesus walking on water toward them. They were scared and thought it was a ghost, but when Jesus told them it was Him, Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28, CEV). Jesus said, “Come” — and with that Peter stood up, got out of the boat and started walking on water. All was fine until Peter noticed the wind blowing against him, and suddenly he got frightened and began to sink.

He cried out, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus reached out his hand, caught him and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Most of us are like Peter. Instead of marveling over the miracle that God’s working in our life — the fact that we can walk on water or do something we never dreamed possible — we get distracted by the wind. We take our eyes off Jesus and start to sink. As we fixate on the distractions, fear and doubt set in. We fail to notice the grace at work in our lives that will lead us to a greater love for God and a deeper faith. God is still in the business of working miracles, but since His timing is not our timing, we must often be patient and wait for Him to act.

Remember joy. Henri Nouwen once said, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and continue choosing it every day.” One thing I’ve learned is that joy is worth fighting for. Some trials weigh so heavy on our hearts that they have potential to drag us down and blind us to what is good, and while we certainly need to feel grief, we aren’t meant to live in defeat.

 

It is possible to let joy and pain co-exist, and live with hope and pray for the supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding. Our God is a God of restoration. He can redeem hopeless situations. As we learn to run our race with eyes on the finish line — that prize of eternal life in Heaven — earthly trials become bearable. We receive the grace and the second wind we need to stay strong and cling to the promise that the best is yet to come.

Remember you’re not alone. Hard times feel isolating. You may think you’re the only person whose heart is in pain, but you’re not. Everyone’s pain looks different and comes in different seasons, but we all know what it’s like to feel sad, discouraged, rejected, guilty, dismissed, angry, overlooked, and forgotten by God. Looking at social media can make you feel more alone if it appears everybody else has their act together.

But like you, the people in your news feed have good days and bad days. Days they crush life and days that life crushes them. When you feel alone, reach out to people you trust. Remember that God reveals Himself through others. While it’s important to pray and spend time with Him, you also need community. God created us to share each other’s burdens and help carry each other through trials. When we’re weak, we borrow the strength of others. We lean on people currently in a healthy place to experience the love and grace of God.

 “When God pushes you to the edge of difficulty trust Him fully because two things can happen. Either He'll catch you when you fall, or He will teach you how to fly.” (@soshequoted)[i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “3 Things to Remember When Hard Times Hit” by Ray Pritchard

·        “4 things God wants you to remember when life is hard.” by Dave Willis

·        “Life Actually: 5 things to remember in hard times” by Kari Kampakis