Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest…
Matthew 11:28 (AMPC)
In Noah Webster’s definition of trust, he indicates that it is a resting of the mind on the good character of someone else. I feel it is important to dedicate a chapter in this book to the thought of resting the mind. This is something we all desperately need and most of us want. There are far too many things in our lives that need attention for us to be able to think about all of them without feeling overwhelmed. God wants to help us, but as long as we continue trying to do it all ourselves, He won’t force His help on us.
God often offers us help by providing other people to help share our load in life. Dave and I have two sons who work with us in the ministry, and God has provided them to help us by sharing the load of managing a large ministry. It was difficult at first for us to let go of things we had previously been in charge of and to commit those things to our sons. It was a decision we had to make, and doing so has given us great rest of mind and soul.
There are many things and situations that we no longer have to think about because our sons take care of them for us. I am free to teach, write, pray, study, and do my television show. As I sit here and write, there are many things going on at the ministry that I am not even aware of. I see the result and it is always good, but I trust my sons to manage all the aspects of getting us to that result. My son Dan just told me yesterday that our television program is now on Netflix, and I was pleasantly surprised. That is a great opportunity to reach more people, and it all happened without me being involved because I released that part of the management of the ministry to someone else.
My son David surprised me when he showed me pictures of a project in Tanzania that we are funding and overseeing. I get the joy of sharing in the celebration of helping more people, but I didn’t have to worry even one time about any of the thousands of details that went into making the project a success.
Our sons are partnering with us in the ministry, and although we still work hard, we are not overburdened and overloaded. We are not pressed down with worry and concern. Our minds are at rest!
God delights in surprising us and will often do so if we will put things into His hands and safekeeping. He wants to partner with us in our lives, and when we let Him do so, our minds can be at rest. According to Scripture, we are called into companionship and participation with God. 1 Corinthians 1:9 (AMPC) says it this way:
God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A relationship with God is much more than reading Scripture each day, going to church once a week, giving some money in the offering, and perhaps doing a few good deeds. That is mere religion, but the rich and wonderful relationship we are offered through faith in Christ is a partnership. He gives us ability and expects us to use it, all the while trusting in Him. He is also ready to handle anything we cannot handle. I like to say, Trust God to help you do your best, and trust Him to do the rest.
God offers us peace of mind when we place our trust in Him. Throughout each day, many thoughts come to mind that can cause worry and concern. This morning I was with someone who was very quiet and not interested in having any conversation with me, and my thoughts went something like this: I don’t think she likes me very much. As I thought that, I started feeling that perhaps I needed to “do something” to change the situation, and yet I did not have any idea what I could do.
When we try to do things that we have no idea how to do, it always creates stress, concern, worry, and sometimes fear. Are there things in your life that you feel responsible to “fix” but you have no idea what to do about them? If so, you can do what I did this morning and pray, committing the situation to God and trusting Him to “fix it.” I prayed a simple prayer and said, “Father, I put my relationship with __________ into Your hands. I commit it to You and ask You to make it what You want it to be.” As soon as I did that, my peace of mind returned.
Shortly after that, I heard from one of my children and I could tell they were not doing well emotionally. I asked if I could help in any way, but they said no, and immediately my thought was, I wonder what’s wrong? Did they argue with someone? Do they feel bad physically? What happened? I had my backpack loaded up and was ready to carry it all day when I remembered that I could release it to God, who was the only one who knew what was wrong and what to do about it.
I prayed, “Father, help __________ decide to have a good day. Let them see how blessed they are and be thankful instead of sad.” Shortly after that prayer I received this text: “I feel much better now. I love you!”
We may experience many things like this each day. It is no wonder that people are stressed-out unless they know how to trust God and cast their cares on Him. I was one of those people for over half of my life, but I am very grateful to now know what to do with my cares.
Let God share your day by talking with Him about everything. Prayer is simply talking with God, so I urge you not to see it as a duty we need to perform. Prayer is our way of letting God into every aspect of our lives, including the ones that attempt to steal our peace and cause us anxiety.
Don’t be deceived into believing that you have no choice in what you think about. If the thoughts in your mind are worried or anxious, you can choose to think about something else. God’s Word teaches us to cast down wrong thoughts, bringing all of them into captivity to the obedience of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). I find that talking to Jesus all throughout the day, about all that I do, and any concern I have is one of the best ways to stay in fellowship with Him, enjoy His presence, and at the same time receive help from Him.
What would Jesus think when He had a situation that would be classified as a “trouble”? We have many examples in the Bible of how He handled such situations, and in each case, He made the choice to trust His Father in Heaven. Even when He was on the cross and felt that He had been abandoned, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” (Luke 23:46 [AMPC]). This was the most difficult time of His life and yet, in the midst of terrible pain and suffering, He trusted God!
The Bible also gives us an account of Jesus being in a boat when a huge storm of hurricane proportions arose. The disciples who were with Him became frantic, timid and fearful, but He was in the stern of the boat asleep. When they woke Him up and expressed their fear, Jesus said, “Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)?” (Mark 4:40 [AMPC]).
God expects us to trust Him! He offers us that option, and we would all be wise if we learn to choose it anytime we are tempted to worry. Why be miserable when we don’t have to be?
I think the fear of not getting what we want is a root cause of the difficulty we have in learning how to trust God. Most of us are convinced that the only way we can be assured of getting what we want is if we take care of ourselves. This fear prevents us from completely trusting anyone.
Because I was raised by a selfish and abusive father and mother, I felt certain that nobody truly had my best interests in mind. My attitude was, If I don’t take care of myself, nobody will! Perhaps you recognize that attitude and it has made you as miserable as it did me.
Dave was often hurt by my unwillingness to trust him, but I was not convinced that he would not make selfish decisions that only benefited him. I believed that he loved me, but my parents had also told me that they loved me, and I saw how that turned out. I could not learn to trust anyone until I came to believe in the unconditional love of God and realized that even if a person did hurt me, God would heal and comfort me. God always has our best interest in His thoughts and plans for us, and once we believe that, we can trust Him and learn to trust others.
Trusting God doesn’t guarantee that we will always get what we want. However, if we don’t, it is only because God has something better in mind for us. Many times in my life, I wanted and asked God for things that I didn’t get, only to realize later that if God had given me what I wanted at the time, it would not have been good for me. As we learn to want what God wants for us even more than what we ourselves want, we can have peace of mind in every situation.
Jesus gave us a perfect example of this type of attitude when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His painful death. He said:
… Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.
Luke 22:42 (AMPC)
Our peace of mind rests on whether or not we are willing to trust that God’s will is better than ours even if we don’t understand it. Because we are created with free will, we have the option of trying to run our own lives and live for what we will, but thankfully, we have another option, and that is to trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. The prophet Isaiah puts it this way: “Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end…” (Isaiah 9:7). The more we let God govern our lives, the more peace we will enjoy!
When life isn’t going how we’d like, and we don’t trust God, it’s easy to try and take the wheel from Him, to boss Him around and try to force Him to do things our way. Sadly, this will land even the best person in an emotional and spiritual ditch. Why not let God drive your life instead?
I heard a story recently about two teenage girls who were spending the day together. One of them was a very spontaneous girl who often did things without thinking them through. She suddenly decided she wanted to trade places with the girl driving the car and proceeded to try and do so while the car was moving. Although the driver of the car initially resisted, she eventually joined in the experiment, and soon they ended up in a ditch with a damaged automobile.
I recommend letting God do the driving. Don’t try to take the wheel from Him while He is taking you where He wants you to go. Let Him take the lead and learn to follow. This is the smartest, safest, and most fulfilling way to live.
This is a good place to stop reading for a few minutes and think about some questions:
• Who is in the driver’s seat in your life?
• How much peace of mind do you enjoy?
• How often do you waste an entire day worrying about something that steals your peace?
• Is a fear of not getting what you want preventing you from trusting God?
• Are you hungry for more peace of mind?
• Do you want to enjoy your life more?
Answering these questions honestly may help you identify your level of trust. If you find that you are not trusting God as you should, there is no reason to be condemned. Just start from this moment to choose trust over worry. Consider this Scripture:
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.
Isaiah 26:3 (AMPC)
Let me suggest a new way for you to pray. Instead of merely telling God what you want Him to do for you, try asking for what you want but then adding this statement: “But, Lord, if this isn’t the right thing for me, then please don’t give it to me!”
There have been many times in my life (and probably in yours too) when I worked hard to get what I wanted but found that it did not fulfill and satisfy me, and it even made my situation worse. Most of us have at some time purchased something that we wanted but in reality could not afford, and ended up with mental pressure because of debt. Or we may have started an argument with our spouse when there was a difference of opinion, but after getting what we thought we wanted, we realized that getting our own way wasn’t worth the mental and emotional misery we experienced.
I have learned that if we cannot have what we want with peace of mind, then it probably isn’t worth having. We are urged by Scripture to let peace be the umpire in our lives, making all final decisions (see Colossians 3:15). After many years of mental and emotional turmoil, I have learned that peace is a valuable commodity and we should do whatever it takes to have it.
When you find that you are having a hard time trusting God, ask yourself: “Is it because I am afraid that if I do trust Him, I might not get what I want?” If the answer is yes, then you have located the cause of your lack of trust and peace.
Getting our own way is highly overrated. It is amazing how much of our lives are wasted on the pursuit of self-gratification, only to find in the end that we are not satisfied after all.
Only God’s will has the ability to ultimately satisfy us. We are created for Him and for His purposes, and anything less than that is totally incapable of bringing lasting contentment. When we are young, we may think that getting what we want is the most important thing in life, but as the years go by, hopefully we learn and have enough experience to readily say, “I want God’s will more than I want my own will.” There is no better place to be than in God’s perfect will!