How to Trust God

FIVE—FOUR—THREE—TWO—

I’m teetering at the top of a 130’ vertical rock face high in the mountains of New Mexico, knees shaking, heart pounding, and after two false starts am expected to take that first courageous step at the count of

–O-N-E—to begin my rappel down the cliff—face first!

It’s an Australian rappel: a controlled descent, face first using ropes, off a vertical surface. Standing at the top, I wondered how I could even walk facing down a vertical cliff. Believe me, it goes against all natural instincts!

Trusting to do what appeared impossible was huge, even with the assurance that my belayer on the ground would do his job with the ropes, and that those ropes would hold me if I fell.

But beating out my fear, I took that first step, and scampering down the cliff safely to the ground was an exhilarating thrill I’ll never forget. Especially for a 24-year-old city girl who had never even been hiking!

Trusting, even when things seem impossible, can be difficult. Many of us  struggle with trusting God—who we cannot see—for what we cannot see.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

This well-known passage may come to mind before giving our situation or need to God in prayer. But how often, right after doing so, does our mind quickly begin formulating scenarios and well-crafted plans of how we think, or hope, God will work?

Like taking that first step off the cliff—trusting with full surrender is key to truly trusting God.

Wrestling with solutions from within our own intrinsic inability—or leaning on our own understanding—results in not trusting Him.

Only when we relinquish our issue to the Lord with genuine finality does it assure that He can go to work. He meets our “God, I’m done with this, You have to do the rest” with ease, once we step out of His way.

A pastor I know shared with me how he learned this through a situation earlier this year. The ministry needed $12,000 to cover previous and pending expenses for its work in Africa. After much prayer, it was coming down to the wire and still funds were lacking.

“Thursday I fully surrendered my prayer of trust to God, and finalized it with Proverbs 3:5,” he said. “Friday I rested in its peace. Saturday morning the Lord told me to go to the post office. There I found a letter of Ephesians 3:20 proportion. It contained a check for $20,000!”

Are you trusting God with all your heart, or are you still hanging on to things?

We can trust God for what we cannot see. We simply need to fully surrender our needs and situations into His capable hands, get out of His way, and let Him do the work only He can do!

Copyright © 2018 Cheryl Elton