“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
– Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)
Trust is a powerful word that many of us are guilty of extending to others without discretion. What I mean by this is, too often trust is given when it should be earned. For example, when you first meet someone you may say, “I trust you until you give me a reason not to.”
Then because you hang out with them a few times consecutively and allow them into your personal space you begin to share personal matters that you should have kept to yourself.
Later you hear how they have shared your business with others. Now, truth is you really can not be upset. Why? Because you were quick to TRUST what TIME had not TESTED! Relationships take time to develop and if we will be honest for a moment, it wasn’t easy for many of us to trust the God that our mothers and grandmothers told us about until we experienced Him for ourselves.
“Be careful not to trust what time has not tested.”
I’ll be transparent: Growing up my mother’s side of my family were Christian and my father’s side were Jehovah’s Witness. I remember having a conversation with God (and my pastor) questioning them both on whether or not my Grandmother made it to Heaven because she did not reverence Jesus as we were taught to do as Christians. Low and behold, my pastor at that time could not answer the question.
This caused me to wonder if God was real and I went on my own search to learn the truth. I remember when I was around 18 years old, I prayed and asked God to show me that He was real. Be careful when you ask this question because He will do just that; however, not always the way in which you expect Him to.
One night I was leaving the club and fell asleep driving. (Disclaimer: Yes, I used to be a party girl therefore, do not be alarmed.) I was going at least 45-50 miles per hour and fell asleep in a curb and was awakened because my car had ran off the road. When I opened my eyes, all I saw were trees all around me however, I was not hitting any of them.
I panicked and hit the breaks and my Mazda Protege’ began to slide and stopped in the ditch which was so low that you could not see my car from the highway. I remember my window was down and my music was blasting (I guess to help me stay awake, can we say EPIC FAIL?)
When I looked around I was directly across the street from a church, and when the police arrived (he was a Caucasian male). He did not ask for my license or registration. He looked at me and said these exact words, “I don’t know what you are doing but you better get your life together because there is no way you should be walking away from this accident.”
I will never forget those words.
My car was not damaged, I only had one small cut on the side of my pinky finger and I was still in my right mind. I wept before the officer as the nurse held me in her arms (she was on her way to work and saw me in the street as I was trying to flag down help.) I remember this lady was Caucasian as well and she stayed with me until the officer arrived.
The officer went on to share with me that I had drove over 200 ft off the road and had I hit a tree I would have died on impact because of how fast I was going.
It was in that moment that I knew God was real. My life began to slowly change as I learned to trust God to take care of me even while I was out partying, smoking and drinking which I had no business doing.
Why am I sharing all of this?
To encourage you that there is power in trust and it is impossible to walk in faith without having trust in the Lord. We all can reflect back over our lives on all the things the Lord has spared us from and kept us through. Your story may not have been as dramatic as mine but I am sure God has done enough for you (and your children) to earn your trust in Him.
The purpose of today’s message is to encourage you to trust in the Lord with all of your heart as we journey through these last few months of 2019. It is not too late for God to do what He promised you in January. Be radical enough to trust Him even when you can’t trace Him, even when you have no clue what He is doing or how He will come through for you. All that you need to know is that He will.
Trust truly is the principle thing and I speak prophetically over your life today and I declare that your spiritual eyes will be opened to see clearly all God is trying to show you and that your ears will be in tune with the voice of God and you shall heed His will concerning your life.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
– Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
