Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Have you ever felt at times in your life as if it were hard to truly trust God? I'm not talking about believe in Him because believe and trust are two very different things. It's one thing to believe in God. It's an entirely different thing to fully trust God. This is something that we all deal with as humans.
The Difficulty of Trusting
Why? Because we're tangible beings. We deal in the sensory—what can I see, taste, touch, smell, or hear? But when it comes to matters of the heart, God requires our trust. How do we trust in a God that we don't physically see, as they saw in the Bible where they could see Him every day? Even if you're not seeing Him with physical sight, that's precisely why we have these Scriptures.
Today's Verse of the Day could not be more relevant to precisely what I'm talking about.
It comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 9. Paul says, "God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
It really hits me powerfully because our Heavenly Father says, "I'm going to do what I said." Paul reminds us He is faithful to do what He says.
My Earthly Father
Guess what? That was hard for me to truly trust because I had difficulties in my own home growing up. You see, my earthly father did not have his own relationship with God for many years, and during those years, things got really difficult for me and my family. He turned to everything he could think of to fill the void in his heart except God. He turned to alcohol. There were addictions. There was gambling, all these different things.
That made me learn at an early age that I couldn't depend on my father—at least my earthly father. How can I trust a God, who the Scripture says is a good Father, when my own earthly father, who was supposed to take care of me, isn't always doing so well?
God Is Different
I want you to know this truth: God is different. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. You can count on that. Paul is literally writing this to a church that's getting off the ground. When Paul wrote these things, he had been through so much. Paul himself had been imprisoned and beaten. He's going through it. Yet he still can say, even in those circumstances, it does not matter what the people in my life do to me, because He made me a promise and He's going to keep His promise.
What Is God's Promise?
What is that promise, you might ask? I'm so glad you asked, because in verse 9 it says, "God will do this, for He is faithful."
One must ask: what is the "this" He's going to do? Well, if we go back to verse 8, it says: "He will strengthen you to the end so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
You don't have to worry. God is the strength. God has given you the strength. God is there for you. God made you promises to keep you. God made you promises to pour into you, to give you hope. God made all these promises to you so you don't have to fear. You don't have to be afraid. Most importantly, you can trust Him.
Trust Him No Matter What
I had to learn to trust Him no matter what was happening with my earthly father. Guess what? My earthly father found God through my relationship with the Father, my trust in Him. What I learned, what I grew in, was able to reconcile that relationship and bring him back into the fold.
This is what I'm telling you: No matter what you're going through, God will do this—He will strengthen you and keep you all the way to the end. We can take heart in that.
My Challenge to You
My challenge to you is this: What's one area where you haven't fully trusted Him that you need to lean in and say, okay, God, as difficult as this may be for me, I will trust You with this because I know You are faithful?
