Trust

Recently I’ve been enduring a particularly stressful ordeal having to do with an insurance company and an old injury. As I sat down to pray about the situation (again) I was feeling that familiar knot in my stomach. I asked the Lord for wisdom to know what to do next and for peace so that I would stop being so uptight. And in the midst of my prayer time an acronym for the word trust came to mind.

T – Try
R – Rest
U – Under
S – Stress
T – Today

I’ll admit it’s simplistic and childlike, but then so am I and the Lord knew that this would bring peace to my troubled mind. This acronym for the word “trust” is just another reminder for me to turn everything over to God. One of my favorite Keith Green songs rightly says “Do your best, pray that it’s blessed, and He’ll take care of the rest”. Again, another simplistic statement but one that has brought peace to me more times then I can count.

So, as I continue to make my way through the piles of paperwork and long distance phone calls to my insurance agent, I’m determined to do my best. I’ll do my best to keep clear and detailed records. I’ll do my best to speak politely and respectfully to those I’m dealing with and I’ll comply with their requests to the best of my ability. Next, I’ll pray that it’s blessed. I’ll turn the worry of this situation over to God’s care, praying for his favor with the people in charge. And lastly, I’ll make the choice to stop obsessing over this ordeal, knowing in my heart that He’ll take care of the rest.

God has allowed this uncomfortable situation in my life to give me yet another opportunity to learn how to “rest” in him. I’ve failed many times in the past to turn my fears and problems over to God fully, but hopefully I’m growing in my ability to trust him more and more. And I believe the key to “resting” in God and trusting him for the outcome of any particular situation, is found in the last line of the acronym above. T – Today

We are only promised today. In fact, the Bible says that our life is so quick that it is only a vapor. That means that our life is like a wisp of steam, here today – gone tomorrow. And of course the older I get the more I see the reality of this. So if we are warned in the word of God that our lives will be over before we know it, why would we ever make the choice to spend it in anxiety or worry? And yet many of us make this choice by default. By not making the conscious decision daily to lay our cares at the feet of Jesus, we are essentially choosing to spend the day focusing on our problems and concerns. I have found that I will either magnify the Lord or magnify the problem, but I cannot do both at the same time.

I like what A. Purnell Bailey said about worry: The Bureau of Standards in Washington tells us that a dense fog covering seven city blocks, one hundred feet deep, is comprised of something less that one glass of water. That amount of water is divided into some 60,000,000 tiny drops. Not much there! Yet when these minute particles settle down over the city or countryside, they can blot out practically all vision. A cup full of worry does just about the same thing. The tiny drops of fretfulness close around our thoughts and we are submerged without vision.”

God and only God is the keeper of your future. He knew the day and hour of your birth and he knows the day and hour of your death. He knows completely every event that will happen in your life and he’s got it all in his hand. Your only responsibility is to do the best with what you’ve got, seek him daily, and relinquish the rest of it over to him.

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Paula Friedrichsen is a conference speaker and the author of "The Man You Always Wanted is The One You Already Have" (Multnomah 2007). She lives with her husband and daughter in Northern California.
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