Trust in the Lord

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Pain and suffering are an unavoidable part of life on earth. And as we walk this earth in 2024 we are likely to continue walking through “the valley of the shadow of death,” surrounded by things we wish we could avoid or completely eliminate from our lives. But try as we might, we cannot always avoid the deep, dangerous valleys and the shadows of death. Loved ones are diagnosed with terminal diseases, terrible accidents happen to dear friends, hatred between political opponents intensifies and escalates into violence, bombs fall on innocent people, children die in war torn places, and we feel hopelessness building inside.

We want to trust God more and plenty of times we do, but in the hardest times, oof - we might falter - and that is not what we want!

To trust God more we need to develop and strengthen our relationship with Him, and that requires more time with God in prayer and in His Word. In that time with Him, he will teach us to trust Him and to live in His peace when the hard times come.

We need to become so trusting of God, that when terrible things happen, we can say as Job did in chapter 13:15 - “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Trust like that must be built up high and reinforced like a siege wall! Walls are built one brick at a time; one hour at a time. And that’s just how we must build up our Trust in God - one brick, one hour, at a time.

Yet there are so many distractions and responsibilities to contend with! Hour after hour, day after day, we spend our time on the things of the world.

According to recent research that I found online as of Mar. 10, 2023, the average American spends 7 hours and 4 minutes staring at some kind of screen each day.

You can check your own screen time on your phone. Add that time to your TV time, computer time and iPad time.

Once you’ve totaled up that time, compare the total to the total number of hours you spend each day reading and studying the Bible, and praying in solitude. When comparing the God time to screen time, note which one is highest.

Most of us find the screen time far outweighs the God time!

• So how can we trust God more than the news, when we are spending more time with online sources than we are spending with God?
• How can we lean on God instead of our own understanding, when we are feeding our understanding with more food of the world, than food from God?

If we spend more time with God to reinforce our relationship with Him, our trust will grow. If we fall short on God time, our trust will weaken through Neglect and it will begin to crumble!

With increased time devoted to being in God’s presence, through prayer, Bible study and meditation, and group study with other Christians, our trust in God grows.

We learn that God is our strength and hope and we learn to patiently wait for Him. Our trust grows and soon we can say like Proverbs 3:5-6 - "I trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; in all my ways I submit to him, and he will make my paths straight."

Prayer

Dear Lord, give us the focus and dedication to give you more time than we give to the noise of the world. Help us to submit to you and to trust you more than we trust ourselves. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

 

This devotion was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.