The Manifestation of Faith
The Bible teaches that faith will manifest itself in three ways. It will manifest itself in doctrine—in what you believe. It will manifest itself in worship—your communion with God and the fellowship of the church. It will manifest itself in morality—in the way you live and behave. . . . The Bible also teaches that faith does not end with trust in Christ for your salvation. Faith continues. Faith grows. It may be weak at first, but it will become stronger as you begin to read the Bible, pray, go to church, and experience God’s faithfulness in your Christian life. You will learn more and more how to rely on Christ for every need, in meeting every circumstance, and every trial.
Why We Can Trust God
What situations cause you to doubt God? Do fears come because the future seems uncertain? Are hardships a challenge since they make the Lord appear unkind? Or perhaps your expectations and dreams have come crashing down, and it seems God is nowhere to be found.
Since our heavenly Father is omniscient, sovereign, and loving, we have every reason to trust Him regardless of the circumstance.
God is infinitely wise. We may have all the information that is humanly possible to gather, but God alone knows the future, the details of every situation, and the best possible plan for our life.
The Lord has complete authority over all events. Even though God’s ways are beyond our comprehension, we can trust Him, knowing that His control is exercised perfectly according to His complete knowledge and great love.
God’s love is unfailing. No matter what we are facing, nothing can separate us from His love, which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:31-39).
Let’s take some time today to ponder God’s limitless love, wisdom, and sovereignty. When you are trusting in Him, you’ll be able to follow His path for your life, and your heart won’t be troubled (John 14:1).
Trust Transforms Your Life
Joyce Meyers testimony says “For a long time, there was so much turmoil in my life. It really saddens me to think about all the years I wasted living this way.
I was a Christian and went to church, but I spent a lot of time being upset about things I couldn’t do anything about, and had continual feelings of guilt and condemnation much of the time. As a result, I had no peace and just didn’t enjoy life.
But thank God, I’ve experienced radical transformation in my soul. And the key was developing a habit of learning to trust God at all times, in every area of my life.”
What It Means to Trust God
Trusting God is simply believing that He loves you and knowing He’s good, He has the power to help you, and He wants to help you.
Christians are called believers, but many times, we are more like unbelieving believers. We trust our friends, the bank, the stock market or the government more than we trust God and His Word.
In John 15:5, Jesus says that apart from Him, we can do nothing. We need to lean on Him for help with everything in our lives.
Sadly, a lot of people go to church, hear what they should do and then go home and try to do it on their own. They usually end up desperately telling God how hard they’re trying to do what they need to do, and they’re leaving Him out!
God wants us to put Him first in our lives. He wants us to put our confidence and trust in Him, all the time, in everything.
Learning to Trust God, Not Myself
I used to have a habit of trusting myself. I formed this habit through years of trusting people, getting hurt and finding out I couldn’t trust them.
I thought, If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself. If you don’t ask anybody for anything or open your heart to them, they can’t hurt you. But this mindset just kept me from trusting God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Spirit of God comes to live inside you. This means you don’t have to go through someone else to get to God. He dwells in your heart and you can learn to hear His voice.
The best way to hear from God is knowing what the Bible says. God’s Word gives us wisdom, and as we study it, our mind is renewed (Romans 12:2), so we no longer just think the way the world thinks – we can think the way God thinks!
The Good Habit That Makes All the Difference
We have to habitually study the Word to really have confidence in God and know we can hear Him. As we spend time reading and meditating on Scripture, we develop a strong spirit. Then we can hear God speaking to our heart and make decisions based upon what He’s leading us to do, not just what we think, feel or want.
When you go beyond what you want, what you think and what you feel and do what the Word and the Spirit of God tell you to do, you are able to develop good habits and break bad ones. You come to a place where the blessings of God – His righteousness, peace and joy – overflow in your life.
Life is simple and peaceful when we come to God like little children and say, “God, I don’t want to live on my own. I want to trust You. When I don’t know what to do, I’ll trust You. When I don’t understand why, I’ll trust You. I’ll do my part with Your help, and when I’m done, I’ll trust You to do the rest.”