Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Psalm 62:8 (AMPC)
There are seventy-one verses in the book of Psalms and three in the book of Habakkuk where the word “selah” appears. Since the verse above about trusting God at all times is one of the seventy-four verses in the Bible that uses the word, I thought we should stop long enough to realize that God is saying: This verse is very valuable and you should pause and think about it.
In the early years of my walk with God, I focused on trusting Him to help me each time I had a problem that I felt I could not handle. But after a few years, I began to realize that I didn’t have the ability to do anything without Him, so now I focus on learning to trust Him at all times. The way I do that is by living with a trusting attitude that God is my helper. Very few days go by that I don’t say several times a day, “I trust You, Lord, in all things.” Confessing your trust in God is a form of praise. I trust God for specific things I am aware of that are taking place in my life and in the lives of other people, but I also trust Him for “all things” that I am not aware of yet.
It is foolish to wait for an emergency or a serious problem to confront us before we decide to trust God. We can live in an attitude of trust, and when we do, we are walking by faith. This doesn’t guarantee that we won’t have any problems in life, but it does show that we are leaning on God to help us get through our difficulties, even if He chooses not to deliver us from them.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was aware of the difficulty, suffering and temptation that He and His disciples were about to face. He told the disciples to “pray that you will not fall into temptation” (Luke 22:40 [NIV]), but they preferred to sleep. The Scripture states that they were sleeping from grief (see Luke 22:45). Perhaps they were exhausted from worry and fear, or perhaps sleeping was their way of avoiding the problem. But Jesus spent His time praying fervently. He preemptively trusted His Father to either remove the upcoming suffering or give Him the strength to go through it.
Jesus left the choice with God. Rather than asking for His own will, He stated what He would like to have, but completed His prayer with the words, “Yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done” (Luke 22:42 [AMPC]). After He did this, an angel was sent from Heaven to strengthen Him in spirit! (See Luke 22:43.)
Our Father in Heaven is not only our Deliverer, but He is our Strengthener! If He doesn’t give you deliverance right away, He will strengthen you if you are willing to be patient and continue trusting Him for the right thing at the right time.
If there are areas in our lives that we know are weaknesses for us, it would be wise to continually trust God to help us avoid temptation in those areas rather than waiting until we are in the midst of them.
One of my weaknesses for many years was either talking too much or blurting out things without thinking. This, of course, caused problems quite frequently. I often pray in the morning before I start talking to others that God will help me be a good listener and use wisdom in all that I say.
By doing this, I am not waiting until I have already caused a problem and need to deal with the aftermath. I am praying that God will keep me from giving in to temptation when it comes. One of the wisest things we can do is know our weaknesses and lean on God to grant us the strength not to give in to them. Peter would have been much better off if he had had the wisdom to do this.
Jesus warned Peter that Satan was going to tempt him severely, but instead of asking Jesus to help him, Peter thought he was so strong, it was impossible for him to fail. Look carefully at these Scriptures and be sure the attitude that Peter displays is never your attitude:
“Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain,
“but I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren.
“And [Simon Peter] said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.”
Luke 22:31–33 (AMPC)
Peter went on to deny Christ three times! (See Luke 22:55–61.) Perhaps if he had realized his human weakness and asked for all the help from Jesus he could possibly get, he would have been stronger. Jesus didn’t want to deliver him from the temptation, but He wanted him to go through it successfully so he would have enough experience to be able to help others. But Peter obviously thought he was beyond being tempted. This was a huge mistake, and it is a mistake for any of us to think that way. Thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think is not wise and opens the door for our downfall (see Romans 12:3). God loves us too much not to deal with our pride so we can learn to totally depend on Him.
Paul teaches us to pray at all times, on every occasion, in every season (see Ephesians 6:18). When we do, it shows that we have our trust in God at all times.
Take time to know what your weaknesses are and be sure you are trusting God at all times to strengthen you in them. Here is God’s promise to us:
In the day when I called, You answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.
Psalm 138:3 (AMPC)
Perhaps you feel that you have prayed for God to help you resist temptation and yet you still give in to it. I have felt that way at times, but if you will continue trusting God, you will become stronger and stronger as time goes by. Mix your trust with a thorough study of His Word to get the best result. James said that the Word contains the power to save our souls (see James 1:21).
When I pray for God to help me control the words I speak, I also quote various verses of Scripture I have studied about the words of our mouth. My prayer sounds something like this:
“Father, help me today speak only words of excellence. Help me be a good listener and think before I speak. I want my words to glorify You and be a blessing to those who hear them. I need You, Lord. I am nothing without You. Strengthen me in all of my weaknesses.”
Then I pray and confess the Word, because reminding God of His Word is something Isaiah said we should do (see Isaiah 43:26). Surely God doesn’t forget His Word, so why should we remind Him of it? Here are some reasons:
• When we remind God of His Word, it shows that we are putting our trust completely in Him and in His promises.
• Speaking the Word out loud is a very powerful thing to do because it is the sword of the Spirit that is one of our weapons of spiritual warfare (see 2 Corinthians 10:4–5; Ephesians 6:17).
• Speaking God’s Word helps continue the process of renewing our minds (see Romans 12:2). It is part of the process of meditating on God’s Word, and that is something we are often encouraged to do in Scripture.
Here are three of my favorite Scriptures regarding the words of my mouth that I often include in my prayer:
Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
Psalm 141:3 (AMPC)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 (AMPC)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].
Proverbs 18:21 (AMPC)
You may use this same idea of prayer and confessing the Word of God in any area in which you need help. Is your weakness anger? Overeating? Selfishness? Whatever it is, I can promise you there are Scriptures that are promises in God’s Word that cover it. Using Bible programs that are readily available these days on the Internet makes this easy to do. Also, I strongly urge you to remember that it is not what we do right one or two times that brings victory into our lives. Be committed to continue leaning on God and His Word first and foremost at all times and you will see change in due time.
If we trust God at all times, then naturally that means we trust God in things we don’t understand and that don’t seem fair just as much as we do at other times. It is one thing to trust God when we get what we want, but quite another to trust Him when we don’t. I believe that our goal as Christians should be to say with the apostle Paul, “I have learned how to be content… in whatever state I am” (Philippians 4:11 [AMPC]). Paul said he had learned how to be satisfied to the point where he was not disturbed whether he had plenty or was in need (see Philippians 4:11–12).
Being content does not mean that we never want to see any change, or that we have no vision for better things, but it does mean that we are not allowing the things we want and don’t have yet to steal the enjoyment of what we have at the present time.
I had quite a few years that were very frustrating, and the root of the problem was that I was not enjoying where I was on the way to where I was going. God is all for progress and growth, but even more than that, He is for peace!
Consider this Scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes:
Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it!
Ecclesiastes 6:9 (AMPC)
The writer (who is believed to be Solomon) is saying that it is vanity (useless and pointless) to so strongly desire what you don’t have, and it prevents you from enjoying what you do have.
Paul had learned to be content whether he got what he wanted or he didn’t, and this must be our goal. To only be content and thankful when we get our own way is very childish and does not display spiritual maturity at all. As parents, we correct our children for this type of immature behavior. We remind them of all their blessings and tell them to be thankful for what they have. Perhaps we need to remember to also set an example for them to follow in the way we behave when we don’t get what we want. Trusting God is easy when everything goes our way; however, this book is about learning to trust God at all times.
Being content when life hurts, or when we have to wait and don’t understand why, requires a belief that God is good and that His ways are different than our ways. What I would do for myself might not be the best for me. I am sure it would feel good and seem to be good at the time, but would it help me long-term? Would getting my way all the time help me be less selfish, more loving, more understanding, and more compassionate with others when they are hurting? No, it would not! The only way to truly identify with others is to have some experience dealing with the types of things they are dealing with. We don’t have to go through everything everyone experiences in order to help them, but we cannot understand disappointment, or emotional pain, or physical pain, or any other difficulty if we have never experienced it.
We turn to Jesus in our pain because He is a High Priest who understands our weaknesses and infirmities. How can He understand? He understands because He has been tempted in all points just as we are and yet He never sinned (see Hebrews 4:15). It is easy for us to go to Jesus for help because we believe He understands us! He is acquainted with sickness and grief, pain and rejection. Just as we can come to Jesus, we should also want it to be easy for others to come to us with the same confidence, believing we will understand.
As we go through things in life, those experiences equip us to be used by God to bring comfort and encouragement to others who are in need. We may not (and probably won’t) always understand God’s ways (see Isaiah 55:9), but we can honor Him by continuing to believe He is good and that His ways are always right!
Trusting God always requires patience, because God doesn’t work on our timetable. Patience allows us to enjoy life while we wait! It may be difficult for us to understand why God doesn’t do something that we know He could easily do if He chose to, and when this happens, He of course has His reasons. It may be to test our faith or to stretch our faith so our capacity to live by faith grows. It may be that God wants to do something better than what we want or presently have the ability to handle. All of these reasons (and many others) are opportunities for us to remain peaceful by trusting God’s sovereignty, His goodness, and His wisdom.
Patience is usually not a fruit of the Spirit that is easy to have an abundance of in our lives. I find that I am patient in some areas and not in others, and I am certainly still growing in patience. We all wait for things, so waiting is not an option, but how we behave and the attitude we have while we wait is an option. The fruit of patience is partially defined in Vine’s Expository Dictionary as a fruit of the Spirit that grows only under trial. Wow! Don’t you wish it said something else? I know I do!
I would like to just pray for more patience and have God download it into me, but it doesn’t work that way. We have the fruit of patience in us as children of God, but it must be developed and allowed to work its way from the inside of us to the outside of us. It needs to be more than a spiritual theory, or idea; real patience functions in our everyday life and situations. And we especially need patience when we have to wait on something that we want right now!
Whether we are waiting in line at the market, waiting in traffic, waiting for a person who is late for an appointment, or waiting on God to answer our prayers, we definitely need patience in this life if we want to have peace and enjoy our lives. Saint Augustine said, “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”6 Patience may seem bitter and sour, but its fruit is sweet.
Quite often the reason God is requiring us to wait is simply that He is using our difficulty to work patience in us. Learning to be patient is important enough to God that He restrains Himself from giving His children what they want immediately. This is something many parents need to learn. Sadly, our world is filled with people who have not been taught this very important principle in their lives, and they now demand instant gratification. The desire for instant gratification causes us to make many unwise decisions. For example, some people get into deep debt that causes great stress in their lives. And some people marry someone who is wrong for them because they are following unbridled emotions. The misbelief that we should have instant gratification fuels unhappy lives and many bad attitudes, as well as bad choices.
Knowing the nature of God, I doubt that He keeps anyone waiting unless He knows it will be the best thing for them. It is difficult for us to believe that waiting is good for us, but that is due to faulty training and the nature of the flesh. Waiting is good—it makes us more thankful when we finally get what we desire.
Impatience adds pressure to our lives, but trusting God while we wait removes that pressure and allows us to wait with an attitude that glorifies Him. The benefits of trust are truly beautiful. When we believe that God is taking care of something that is troubling us, it frees us up to focus on other things that will bear good fruit. It aids in good health and long life, and I believe even helps us to be easier to get along with. Trust removes frustration and stress from our lives, and those are two of the major sources of being grouchy and irritable with other people. We don’t necessarily want to hurt people and treat them unkindly, but when our souls are filled with turmoil, we simply are more focused on how we feel than on how we are treating other people. We often don’t even realize how harsh and rude we are being, but people feel it, and they eventually will avoid us if the abuse continues.
I absolutely love having the privilege of trusting God! And I also absolutely despise being worried, fearful, frustrated, and overloaded with stress! If you are making a decision about which way to go in your current situation and how to approach your life, I can guarantee you that trusting God is the best option.