I used to always assure myself that, “I can get through anything that life throws at me.” Believing this made my life easier. However, it was a lie. As a Christian, I discovered that I had to die to self-trust and to live for God-trust, as Paul too had to learn:
· 2 Corinthians 1:8–10 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
This is the message of the entire Bible. Why? Because we are highly vulnerable and misguided children who need the Savior every step we take. Fortunately, we have a God who desires to take care of us if only we willing to allow Him:
· Psalm 62:5–8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
He is perfectly willing and able to take care of us:
· Matthew 11:28–30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
· Isaiah 40:17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Nothing can obstruct God’s plans: Romans 8:31–35 …If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
However, we will never learn to trust in Him if we believe that we are in control of our own lives. We will never learn to appreciate His merciful deliverances unless we realize that we desperately need them. King David had to learn this lesson continuously. So do we:
· Psalm 13:1–5 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
· Psalm 119:67–72 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
If our eyes haven’t yet been opened to the Lord and to His Words, His teachings will feel like prison, a needless set of restrictions. However, for those who have been trained, as David had, God’s Words are precious and transformative:
· 2 Corinthians 4:8–11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Consequently, the suffering we endure isn’t a sign that God has rejected us but a sign He has accepted us as His beloved children who require training:
· Proverbs 3:11–12 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
It’s easy to become weary of God’s painful discipline. However, as we grow to trust in His love, we begin to accept His training, understanding our need to die to self-trust. I’ve had to learn that there are many things that I cannot endure without trusting in Him.
Some have criticized me for using Christ as my crutch. However, I gladly admit this. He is the crutch I was created to rest upon:
Psalm 37:3–7 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
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