You’ve heard this before from Proverbs 3, haven’t you? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Shortly I will share with you about this acronym I came up with that we can use to talk about trust. Trust only has five letters, so perhaps I am a little limited, but this succinct literary exercise might prove a helpful way to study this vital concept. I am going to use the acronym to point us to the idea of what trust is about.
Of course, the Bible is full of admonitions and encouragements to trust and points to concepts about what trust, especially trusting in the Lord, is all about. On this episode of Sunday Spice let’s take a look at T. R. U. S. T.
Trust happens naturally for most things in life. For instance, we learn to trust the chair or furniture on which we sit or lie down, realizing that when we do it doesn’t break or crash to the ground. The experiences we have over time with things inanimate or mechanical determines our level of trusting those things. But even people are only trusted based on what we learn about them over time. So, whether it is persons or things we trust or don’t trust based on what happens … in time.
Consequently, the passing of time is essential to developing trustworthiness.
And that is the first letter of this acronym, T is for Time. It takes time. With some situations it takes only a small amount of time and with other situations it takes a longer amount of time, but if the thing or the person in question proves their trustworthiness during that time period, then, yes, we trust it, we trust him, we trust her. They have proven themselves.
When it comes to trusting God, we do so also in the context of the passing of time. As time passes, we experience the vast creation that speaks of his eternal power and divine nature. The human race has spent the last 6,000 years of time . . . watching creation manifest its phenomena. Each generation gets its chance to watch sunrises, sunsets, stars in a night sky, eclipses, rain, and snow. There is nothing different from one generation to the next but enough time to experience, and even trust, the Creator. And we can be confident that God will provide for the next generation the same creation experiences that point to Him and to His handiwork. This gives the next generation the opportunity and time to trust God too.
Another thing that happens in time is that God shows Himself faithful. We live in a fallen world, not a utopia, so bad things can happen and do happen to good people, but that does not mean God disengages. He provides grace during loss; He shares special abilities we didn’t know we had during times of pressure and stress; He works “all” things together for our good.
During this passing of time, it begins to dawn on us how He has somehow edged His way into our lives and sometimes we only realize it in hindsight. But whatever the case, what accumulates over time is evidence, strong evidence, that He was and is at work.
But now let’s get real practical. How about spending time with the Lord? Now there’s an idea. I am confident that as we spend time with Him, with His word and in prayer that our trust in Him will grow. So … T = Time!
The letter R speaks of the REST we experience when we trust God. God rested on the seventh day from all His work after six days of creation. And He likens living by faith, a synonym of trust, as the means to enter into rest like God did. There comes a point in trusting God where there is nothing more that can be done on our own, except rest.
We trust God for our eternal salvation and enter His rest (this according to Hebrews 4) realizing that we must rest “from our works as God did from His.” It sounds easier than it is from a human perspective, because our minds are programmed to utilize, initiate, exert, analyze; you know, jump through all the hoops. But genuine trust eventually leads us to REST in God.
Another idea in terms of the letter R is read. I’ve already mentioned spending time in His word, and this most certainly means read–read His word. As a result faith and trust in God grow as is indicated by Romans 10:17. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Kimya Loder says, “By reading the Bible and storing God’s words in our hearts, we can pray assuredly for things that we know He already desires for us, including peace, wisdom, and faith that He’ll provide what we need.”
R = Rest and Read! (Sounds good doesn’t it!!!)
The letter U is for understanding. I perceive that the ability to understand is a definite work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. In actual reality, our finiteness is so limited that in comparison to all the knowledge and understanding that exists out there, we understand so very little. This should take us back to the idea of trust, where we rely … we depend on the Holy Spirit to help us see what we cannot see without Him … where He turns on the lights that provide direction in life. Colossians 1 says, “. . . we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
I opened this podcast with verses that say … not to lean on our own understanding. Lean on God who provides you the light and the revelation you need to navigate this life and the directives of His word. It is logical to think that people who continue to lean, might just fall, (and they might) especially if we are not leaning on the Holy Spirit. So lean on Him.
Trusting anything or anybody has never been very cut and dries, has it? Our humanity wants its own way, it wants to figure things out first; it wants to take a certain amount of the credit. That is why we must stay in a seeking mode. And that is the next letter. S is for seek. Seek to know Him better. Seek Him in prayer. Seek Him through His word. Here is what He promises the seeker in Jeremiah 29, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
And that brings up our final letter in our TRUST acronym.
Admittedly we have had our challenges in this lifetime trusting in the Lord, but the more we have learned to trust Him, the more we find ourselves wanting to give Him our total submission. That’s the final T: Total Submission. We have no other place to run. No other refuge. No other shelter. And this present world and all the current events are proving a very poor place to find genuine refuge and dependable shelter. The Lord Jesus is our only hope. He owns the highest place of trustworthiness. Let’s give Him our all and TRUST Him with our lives, demonstrating our growing trust in Him by our total submission.
T = Time
R = Rest and Read
U = Understanding
S = Seek
T = Total submission
In former days when implements of war, which are now referred to as antiquated vehicles, were driven by animals, all of which served as their best ideas for engaging in battle, the Psalmist wrote, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
T.R.U.S.T. = TRUST
I’m Tammy Reneé, and this is Sunday Spice. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed are the people who take refuge in Him!
0 Comments