The Daily Battle to Trust

 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7–8

For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

2 Peter 2:19

Many people trust their feelings above all else. Or they may trust their bank account. Or their health. But we know that all these are temporal and can change in the blink of an eye.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. . . . For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18; 5:4–5)

God wants us to trust Him, and to trust Him completely (Psalm 33:21; Proverbs 3:5). “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:36–37)

Ultimately, the benefit is our if we trust God who commands, and obey Him:

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:7–10)

Again, it’s not a matter of merely keeping commands, although God’s commands are not burdensome nor grievous (1 John 5:2–3). God’s commands are for us to be transformed for the better (Romans 12:1–2; Ephesians 4:22–24). God’s commands bring us eternal life and, furthermore, profit us in the here and now, preparing us for eternity (1 Timothy 4:7–8; Ecclesiastes 12:13–14; Romans 8:18).

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7–11)

The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. (Psalm 119:160)

Do we really trust God? Whether we actually do or not, it will show in how we choose to live (1 Timothy 5:24–25). “The one who conducts himself in integrity will live securely, but the one who behaves perversely will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9 NET)

Satan is never going to give up on us—he’s always coming after us. This is why we are to be watchful in everything (Colossians 4:2; 1 Peter 5:8). This can be exhausting if we try to do this on our own. We need help, we need divine intervention:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. . . . And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26, 28)

One very important way that we show trust in God is in praying to Him: 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

Do we believe God will help us through difficult times? Do we believe that God will not forget us? For some, the answers to these questions may change daily. 

Even Jesus is said to put His trust in God (Hebrews 2:13).

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)

He Is Able

“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could 

swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself”

—Hebrews 6:13—

Trust is difficult to obtain and keep. It’s like a treasure that we find and try to protect from corruption. Everyone has, at varying degrees, issues with trusting someone because once we lose that trust, it may take a lifetime to renew. Furthermore, we too often evaluate trusting God the way we would fallible people.

Men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:16–19).

The apostle Paul put it this way: “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12). Read 2 Corinthians 11:16–33 and consider everything Paul endured as an apostle. And through it all, he trusted the One who does not change (James 1:16–17; Hebrews 13:8–9).

Caleb's Tenacious Faith

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).

What Caleb saw and experienced in the land that he and eleven other spies saw and experienced was the same. Of course, we’re familiar with the story about how ten of these spies came back essentially saying they could not overcome it; but Caleb and Joshua contradicted their report. Again, Caleb urged that they were “well able to overcome it.”

One can almost imagine the excitement in Caleb’s voice as he tried to convince Israel that the land was theirs — maybe even a bit of urgency in the excitement since he probably understood the tide turning against their desire to faithfully follow the Mighty God who had brought them to Kadesh-barnea, the very southern part of this rich land expressed by God as flowing with milk and honey (Num 13:27; 14:8-9). This was a turning point for Israel that became forty years of waiting and watching as a faithless generation died as punishment for their lack of faith (Psalm 95:8-11; Heb 3:7—4:11).

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. (Heb 3:16-19)

Caleb’s faith was tenacious as he faithfully obeyed the Mighty God who asked a nation to do what seemed impossible. And so, after hearing that the land would be theirs, and having to wait 45 long years for the unfaithful to die in the wilderness, Caleb asks Joshua for his inheritance from the Lord:

“Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.” So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. (Josh 14:10-13)

We’re not given a physical description of Caleb, but I imagine him as a bulldog: smallish, scrappy, and solid muscle. Interestingly, his name means “dog” (ISBE, I:573). The most positive implication being that of loyalty and strength as a dog is “man’s best friend.” Caleb was God’s best friend as he faithfully defended the Lord and was blessed with strength to engage and win a war with giants in the land (i.e., the Anakim were so described — Num 13:22-23; Deut 1:28; 2:10-11).

Although Caleb is not mentioned by name in the New Testament, he might well be in the mind of the author of Hebrews who was moved by the Holy Spirit: “For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Heb 11:32-34; Josh 14:12).

We need Caleb’s tenacious faith! “He wholly followed the Lord” (Josh 14:14). We need to completely trust and obey our Mighty God (see Php 4:13; Col 1:11; 1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 2:4).

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Eph 6:10-13)

Predictable Unpredictability

It's been interesting watching the development of the storm trackers tracking TS Erika.

It just goes to show that no one really knows what's going to happen with it — the forecast has changed a lot in the last 24 hours, and will probably change even more as it gets closer to us.

Jesus said, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Matthew 6:34 NLT).

Come what may, God is good and we must trust in his promises —

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:2-4 NASB).