Stop Trying Start Trusting

“It’s often our trying that keeps us from trusting”

Loren Thornburg

Do you ever notice that it seems as soon as you let go of working really hard to make something happen, that this is when something happens? There is something about letting go that allows us to receive. When we let go it is then that our hands are now in an open position to receive. Not that we should stop trying but that we should stop clenching our fists while we are trying. It’s the picture of when you squeeze sand you end up left with none, but when you hold it loosely in your hands then it will remain. So we too must hold things loosely. For it is often our trying too hard that keeps us from the very thing that we are desiring. It can be so hard to let go, but is it not harder to see it slipping through our hands?!!

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 Message

Why is it so hard to trust God? The truth is that I can trust God with everything I do, everywhere I go, with all of my heart I can trust that He will keep me on track. Yet I still find myself trying to figure out everything on my own, trying to do it all in my own strength, trying to process it all through, trying to figure out the meaning and what is going on in the midst of confusion. I want to make sense of everything before I move forward in it and in order to find peace in it. But, that is not trust. Trust is the acceptance of the truth. This does not rest on my understanding of it, but of my trust in it. The Bible does not rest on my understanding, God does not rely on my understanding. I was reminded by a friend recently that if He says that He is good, then He is good. If He says He has a plan then He has a plan...end of story. Those things are not up for debate, yet often I am debating them. If He says He will keep me on track, then He will keep me on track as I listen and trust which means not figuring it all out on my own!!

“If God says I am His child then I am. If He says that He has a great plan for me then He does. If He says He loves me then He does. If He tells me He wants me to go over there then I should go. If He says all of my sins are forgiven then I do not have to live with the guilt. If He says He will provide then He will. If He says He believes that I can do it with His strength then I should trust Him. If He says He will guide me He already is. If God says that He does not make junk then that means I am His own masterpiece. If He says one day I will meet Him... I will.”

Morgan Miller