These words are an invitation to give yourself grace and to rest in the sweet embrace of God’s love for you. You see, we are all daughters who need to be reminded that we are seen, we are heard, we are loved, and we matter. It is an invitation to read my heart and I’d love to have you, my friends, along for the journey.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6
As children we have an amazing ability to trust others. We look up to the adults in our paths, the ones who are there to protect us, and we trust implicitly. Somehow we believe that they will right every wrong and avenge the unfairness that our innocent selves experience. We have not lost the ability to wonder and to embrace reverence rather than fear.
Life seems to strip away the facade that childhood fairy tales color upon the viewfinder of our lens. Reality can be a little too real and cynicism tends to replace trust in our esteem for those superheroes who once saved us. It is hard when the big defenders fall in our lives, daughter, but you need to realize that when we place people on pedestals they are destined to come down.
But God.
I never tire of saying those two significant words… But God… because they remind me that what seems impossible with man is always more than possible with God. They remind me that no matter what I see in my present situation, there is a peace and a rest that belongs solely to the Heavenly Father, the ultimate rescuer, redeemer, defender, and restorer… aka Super Hero Supreme.
Trust is an area that is easy to find discouragement. Usually, we have placed too little, or too much, expectation upon something, or someone, and wind up disappointed. Please remember that experience isn’t always the best teacher, because our feelings are often involved we don’t realize how skewed it may be. When we lose trust in those we have looked up to, it becomes harder to trust others later. Unfortunately, we can apply that to God as well.
But God is not like man, He is trustworthy.
We talked about faith in the last letter, didn’t we? Faith is a lot like trust. They both reveal a deep and abiding confidence in something. They both involve our heart.
And like I mentioned in the first letter, about our hearts, they can be somewhat fickle and untrustworthy? If that is so, then we need to be careful just how much we allow them to lead us in making our decisions, especially where people are concerned.
But God. He can be trusted.
When we make Christ the Lord of our life, this is where He makes His home; right here in our hearts. At this very place, the part recreated by His entrance, trust blooms into the faith seeds. Faith, daughter, the belief in hope and expectation that God is real, leads us to stand firm and strong in truth.
J.I. Packer says, our ability to know God is a consequence of Him first knowing us. Isaiah 49:16 reminds us that we are engraved up on his hand, safely situated in the palm of the Holy One, because He is our rest and our refuge. The knowing heart finds strength to trust because faith gives us hope in our expectations. Knowing God is a precondition to trusting Him.
Trust in Him at all times…pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge. – Selah! Psalm 62:8
One of my favorite people in scripture is King David. The Bible says He was a man after God’s own heart. This warrior shepherd became royalty as he trusted God to keep and protect him in the process. This impetuous sinner became a worshipper as he trusted that submission to God’s sovereignty and righteousness would rescue him. David was a man who made a lot of mistakes and tended to defy convention, but over and over he sought the will of the Father. Even when he failed miserably, David knew that he could always trust God’s grace to be displayed in his life. He knew God alone was trustworthy.
The Book of Psalms, is replete with songs of praise and worship, many which exalt the trustworthiness of the Lord to all those who seek refuge and rest in Him. On days when my untamed heart tempts me to question, I am always led to the words David penned in adoration of God. If you read them carefully, the attributes of God are exalted over and over. We can trust God, always.
He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I confidently trust. Psalm 91:1-2
The moments where fear threatens to steal the joy that He has placed in your heart, remember the promises He has given in His Word. Sing the Psalms of praise right in your midst. As you trust in His goodness, faithfulness, and willingness to rescue you, like David did in the dessert and the valley, in the cave and the battlefield, in pursuit and in victory, your faith will grow strong like a cornerstone where trust resides as a sentinel and fear has no victory.
Trusting God leads us to delighting in Him and His ways. The more time we spend learning to trust and delight in Him, the easier it is to commit our ways unto Him. We begin to see Him just as He longs to be seen… Abba. The Heavenly Father comforts us with joy in every sorrow. He covers us with beauty for the ashes we find ourselves covered beneath. He extends mercy cloaked in compassion in the midst of our pain. God is love, dear one; He is for your good.
The more we practice trusting the Lord, the more we find ourselves fixed and firmly standing nearer to His heart, unmoved by the circumstances that blow our way. The more we choose to make Him our shield and our strength, the stronger this heart connection becomes because trust requires relationship. We can lean close, girls. We can rest right up next to the heart of the Father and listen to the rhythm His heart beats for those whom He loves deep. You will never get to the end of God’s grace, dear one, we can’t measure the depth, width or height of His love.
You will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
The reward for trusting in God, is peace of mind and a rested soul, daughter. Don’t mistake the world’s antidote for fear as a vitamin for grace. It will never work. He is more than trustworthy. His faithfulness, girded by righteousness, assures us that we can confidently rely upon His ability to meet our needs with abundance. We don’t have to worry, but rather we can choose to camp close to the place where Holiness has made a way for us to enter in and partake of hope.
He has promised perfected peace and rest for those whose hearts and minds are steadfastly set upon Him. Our praises, the songs we sing in gratefulness, open the door to salvation for us and all those watching and waiting to see faith manifested in our daily lives.Because He is your refuge, your fortress, your redeemer, you will behold the faithfulness of God as you trust in His Love, His Way, and His Purpose.
Trust your lives to the God who created you because He will never fail you.
A challenge to study God’s Word:
He penned a love letter to you, lots of precious words that tell you about His heart and His hope for your living. They are the connection we have to the Father, dear one, powerful and alive and able to bring death to life. Don’t hesitate to spend as much time as you can resting in their wisdom, it will be the best time you have ever spent.
I challenge you to look these scriptures up and write them down in a journal, with this letter. Spend more time with HIS Words than mine, daughter. Let it resonate in your heart. Meditate on the promises. Make them your own. Breathe deep of His love for you and know I am praying always, never ceasing.
Proverbs 3:5-6,Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 125:1, Psalm 40:3, Psalm 37:3,5, Psalm 28:7, 1 Peter 4:19, Psalm 91
November is a month for writers. You may be familiar with NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo through BlogHer, where eager wordsmiths dedicate time each day to write, with the goal to complete a novel or at least post daily on their blogs. Encouraged by some writing friends, I am joining with the many to write words of purpose with a special project that I have been wanting to complete. This project: For my Daughters, A letter of Grace, is a series of letters I began writing to my daughters to speak words of hope, love, and grace in their lives as they grow and face the challenges life always presents. You can read previous letters below.
Linking up with friends for the journey:
Thought Provoking Thursdays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Everyday Jesus, Christian Mommy Blogger, Faith and Friends Blog Hop, Grace and Truth Link Up, Missional Women
Who knew that a preposition and a proper noun when paired together would have such power!
Thanks for the reminder that no matter how hard things get, His grace covers… Because…
But God. 🙂
Oh my dear friend, I wish I could tap print button and have a hard copy of this straight away.
The advice to spend more time with God’s Word rather than ‘mine’, is the valued statement here to me. In God’s Word we find solution to all of life’s riddles.
Thank you for your wise words my dear friend.
How have you been? It’s been such a long while.
Would you like to write for a guest post on an upcoming series friend? If you are interested, Please do send me an email via my blog contact form I will get it.
Many Blessings to you
What beautiful words on trusting God and the benefits being peace (great words to all daughters). I love your advice “camp close to the place where Holiness has made a way for us to enter in and partake of hope.” Thanks for the encouragement today.
There’s no one like our God. 🙂