Who Will I Trust?

We have a choice every day to trust in ourselves, or to trust in God.  Many events and circumstances cross our path each day to cause us to trust in fate, will-power or mankind, but we must always keep our trust focused on God alone.

I’ve been in Alaska the last few days with our son, Chris.  We were able to fly here for free because of the flying privileges he has as a commercial pilot, but it means that we must depend on stand-by seats being available.  He has an extra advantage over me, because he can fly on any airline, in the cockpit if necessary.  My options are greatly limited.  I was not able to get on overbooked flights last night or this morning, even though we were praying for an opening.

But here is the key — this morning, while I was waiting in a huge line at the ticket counter, I opened my Palm to read my day’s devotion from John Piper’s book, Taste and See.  This is what he said:  “Use Means, but Don’t Trust in Means; Trust in God.  A Lesson from George Mueller’s Life and Teaching.  This sounds so simple.  In principle it is.  But in practice we sinners are wired to trust in means, not God.  Over and over I devise plans, and then find my initial enthusiasm rise or fall as the plan seems smart or not.  This is trust in plans, not trust in God.  There is no doubt God wants us to use means to get his work done.  But just as clearly he wants us not to trust in these means.  ‘The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.’ (Proverbs 21:31)  Therefore, our confidence should not be in the horse, but in the Lord. ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7).”  [From the book Taste and See, John Piper, #122].

This was all I needed to boost my trust for the day — I stood there praising Him silently and smiling to myself.  I know this day will be all right, as I trust Him rather than my own plans and schemes.  I then went to the gate and found out the flight was overbooked and there was no seat for me.  But John Piper had also said we need not be anxious when plans fail, and I walked out of the airport with a smile on my face and returned to my motel to see if I could have the room back until noon (which they graciously allowed me to do).

Now I was pleased to have time to sleep a bit, read my other devotions and check mail.  Guess what my daily Bible reading said.  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths...[this] land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures…filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.”  (Isaiah 2:7).  I wrote in my Bible beside this verse, “Other things people trust in” (i.e. horses and chariots), and He boosted my trust up another notch.

I read a devotion from the Institute for Creation Research (8/29) and it said, “God even cares about the artistic details of each snowflake, the inner structure and workings of each humble pine needle, and the edible seeds needed by desert-dwelling songbirds,” and I thought of all the marvelous creatures we’d just seen here in Alaska.  He cares!  He’s taking care of me!  And my trust was boosted up again.

Then I read a chapter from David Roper’s book “Out of the Ordinary.”  He quoted Martin Luther:  “With [God's] left hand he governs the world through the ordinances of the world.  And now he has suddenly removed his left hand, and we are  committed with an unparalleled immediacy and exclusiveness to God’s right hand.  Now we have to reach out for this right hand of God and let it be the pillow on which we rest, the watcher at our bed, the guide on our dark and uncertain path, and our staff in the valley of the shadow.”  Then he [David Roper] spoke of “venturing into uncharted territory, moving from the known to the unknown…and of Moses’ loneliness when God distanced Himself from His people (Exodus 33:1-16).  But God spoke:  “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  (Exodus 33:11)  “God did not promise, at least on this occasion, that He would accompany Israel on her journey or that she would reach her destination…He only promised to be with His servant and make Him a center of peace in the midst of the confusion and uncertainty of his day.”  (David Roper, pg. 27)  God had boosted my confidence and trust once again.  He’s with me; I have nothing to fear.  Then I laid down on this wonderful bed (in a motel) that he provided and took a short nap.

When I awoke and began to check mail and blogs, I came across this post by Brad Ruggles, and the blessings (and trust-boosting) continued!  Icing on the cake — the last text message from Chris before he boarded his flight said, “Praying for you.”  What more can a mom ask for?  God has everything under control.

I have since discovered that there’s a flight leaving at 2pm (rather than the 11:30pm flight I’d planned to try tonight) to San Francisco, and on to Denver and Wyoming — and — believe it or not, the flights “are wide open” in seat availability!  Isn’t our God amazing?

He gives us so many opportunities to trust Him, and so often we run to our own schemes, fears and anxieties instead.  I’m so thankful He boosted my trust in Him today!  And how was the trip?  Awesome!  Take a look below at God’s amazing creation!

Yes, that last one was a wolf!  He has surprises for us around every bend, as we delight and trust in Him.  And I’m off to the airport to see what God has in store for the rest of this day as He walks with me!  See Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this story for more adventures on the way home!

~ by Juli Jarvis on August 29, 2008.