What does it mean to “trust in the Lord with all your heart?” These seven little words may take a lifetime to accomplish. Why? Because they require moment-by-moment, day-by-day, surrender — all encompassing surrender.
The problem started for us all in the Garden of Eden a long time ago. Self-reliance began the unceasing battle against surrender. Since that time, every individual has witnessed this relentless war. Even the youngest of us asserts, “I can do it myself.”
Positive determination has produced amazing results. It has led mankind to explore, invent, engineer, create and break preconceived limitations. Through this compulsion we have
stood on mountains,
walked in space,
explored ocean depths,
developed cures,
conquered fears,
and challenged the impossible.
But such exploits have also created an over confidence in our own ability, ingenuity, or intelligence. So how do we turn about face and kneel before the Lord God, Creator and Sustainer of all?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on
your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5
Trust
As a mother, I find it uncomfortable to watch a young child being thrust into the air by its father. The child may scream in fear, while simultaneously delighting in the game of dangerous reliance of its father. The father trusts in his own strength to catch the child. However, the child trusts in the father’s loving character to not allow it to fall.
Sometimes, I honestly feel like that little child tossed skyward by my Heavenly Father — gasping for air and screaming. Not always in delight! Usually, I’m not wanting more!
Trust conveys a sense of security or calm assurance.
“May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace
as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
Such explicit trust, of necessity, requires that we know the One we are trusting in. Do I trust Him as the God of all hope? Do I know Him to be trustworthy? Or do I question His character and His love for me?
How I perceive God’s character will ultimately determine my level of trust in Him.
The LORD
The name for God used here is “Yahweh” — “I AM.”
“God said to Moses,
‘I AM WHO I AM.’…”
Exodus 3:14
Perhaps it takes so long to trust God, because it takes time to understand who He is. Self reliance declares, “Trust only yourself.” However, history has shown how faulty that reasoning is!
By reading the bible, we begin to develop insight into God’s nature. Experience also teaches us that He is completely trustworthy. His character is constant and good — indescribably good.
God
eternal, self-existent,
omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient,
Alpha and Omega, without beginning or end,
independent and unchanging,
absolute truth, beauty, and goodness.
The more we come to accurately know God for who He truly is, the more we sense the security and calm assurance that comes with trusting Him.
“Those who know your name
trust in you, for you, LORD,
have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalm 9:10
Can we trust God when our prayer seems to go unanswered? Can we trust Him when He appears distant even though we needed His Presence? How can we trust Him when His ways are so much different than ours?
These are honest questions. The only honest answer is, “Yes!” Yes, because His love never fails. Yes, because He is immeasurable good. Yahweh is redemptive in all He does. He remains trustworthy.
With All
If seven words present a problem, seven letters create an even bigger one — “with all.” Perhaps, we can trust God “with a little”. We might even trust Him “with some.” But “with all?” Now that’s different. And difficult!
Dare I trust Him with
my family and relationships,
finances and possession,
dreams and desires,
restoring my past or securing my future,
providing not just what is good,
but the absolute best?
It has been over 40 years since in hopelessness I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. With faltering prayer, I simply said, “Lord, I have nothing worth giving you. But if you want me, I am Yours. Take the broken pieces. I give them all to You.” With that, I gave Jesus “all.”
Amazingly enough He took me up on the offer. He still holds me to it!
Through the years, God has been persuading me about the inclusively of “all.” Some things I have clung too resistantly. Other things, I have gladly tossed His way. “With all” really does mean everything. God cannot be Lord if He is only lord of some. Lordship encompasses “all.”
“You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD himself,
is the Rock eternal.”
Isaiah 26:3-4
Yet with such yielding comes peace — “perfect peace.”
Heart
The heart signifies the centre — the core of all feelings, will, and intellect. The heart makes me to be me, and you to be you. It determines our values, how we perceive the world around us and how we respond to others. The heart is the central part that makes every aspect of our lives “tick.”
The human heart is made up of many chambers. So is our heart of hearts. Trusting Him must flow through “all” the centre of our being.
“I will say of the LORD,
“He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalms 91:2
Do we foolishly think we can trust our feelings above His goodness? Are we in any way resistant to surrendering our will? In what ways do we believe we know better than God? Writing these question makes them sound unreasonable. Perhaps because they are.
Yet, in my littleness, I cling to them with childlike determination. God pulls at my small hand with persistence, wanting my little, so He can grant me His big more.
Trusting in oneself “with all your heart” proves futile. On the other hand, “trust(ing) the Lord with all your heart” brings his security and calm assurance.
Blessings
Many promises await fulfillment as we trust the Lord — in everything and with everything.
“But blessed is the one
who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree
planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Trust and blessing co-exist — inseparably bound together. As fragile as our trust might seem, it powerfully links us to innumerable benefits. The security and calm confidence derived from trusting in the Lord replaces fear and worry. Trusting God demolishes the vulnerability of uncertainty.
So today, I trust again, afresh, and more fully. Moment-by-moment, day-by-day, I choose to “trust in the Lord with all (my) heart.”
God faithfully invites me closer, while creating new opportunities to trust. He also rewards my efforts to trust with confidence.
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