Joy in Trust
The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him. (Psalm 28:7 AMP).
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on’t worry. He’d never bite you”—famous last words of the sincerest of dog owners. In the past 25+ years of dog grooming, I’ve learned to be extra cautious of dogs whose owners make such declarations. Not that I mistrust the owners or the dogs. I’ve learned that even the sweetest, best-disciplined, calmest dog in the universe is still, by nature, a dog. Animals react by instinct. Their capability of reason is limited. Thus, they do not think, “She’s pulling my hair. It hurts and may get worse, but it’s for my own good. I can tolerate any amount of torture to please my master.” No, they think, “This hurts. I’ll give her fair warning. GRRR. And if she does it again, I’m gonna make her bleed.” Again, it’s a dog. Dogs react by instinct. Any dog is capable of biting if put in an unfavorable situation. Experience taught me to trust my knowledge of the nature of dogs and to act accordingly rather than to trust a well-meaning dog owner.
Throughout his life, Caleb learned to trust God rather than rely on the opinions of his fellow spies. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout out the land. And I brought him a report as it was in my heart. But my brethren who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God (Joshua 14:7, 8). Read Numbers 13. Caleb and Joshua were among twelve spies that Moses had sent to bring a report of the land God had promised. Ten of the scouts cringed at the size and ability of the enemy. But Caleb spoke in favor of trusting God to deliver the land as promised. Joshua sided with Caleb, and the two men were the only ones of that generation to enter the Promised Land.
At times, I cringe at the size and ability of the enemy or at my inability to complete the God-given task ahead of me. Then, inevitably, I receive a reminder: if it were going to be easy, why would I need God?
If an endeavor is from Him, most likely it will be enormous and overwhelming to us. That’s the point of giving us a task in the first place. God desires for us to lean completely on Him, not on our own strength or on someone else’s power. Without God’s strength, we can accomplish very little. Jesus said, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing (John15:5 AMP). To accomplish an assignment, defeat the enemy, or even to grow spiritually, we must maintain our connection and trust in our Strength Giver. Only fools think they are strong enough to survive without God.
Caleb and Joshua certainly were not foolhardy enough to think the Israelites could conquer such a formidable foe as described in Numbers 14. However, their experiences during the flight from Egypt taught them to trust in the Omnipotent God, relying solely on His word rather than what anyone else had to say on the matter. He rewarded them for their trust. After Moses died, Joshua succeeded him as the leader of the people. God promised Caleb the land he had surveyed.
Caleb trusted the Strength Giver to keep His promises to the children of Israel, and the warrior had no difficulty believing the personal promise of inheriting the land. What an amazing testimony we receive as Caleb declares, And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness; and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. Yet I am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so is my strength now for war and to go out and to come in (Joshua 14:10, 11 AMP). Caleb then says with God’s help he’d drive out the inhabitants of the land just as the LORD said. Now that’s trusting in the One who gives strength for the task.
The apostle Paul, also, placed his trust in the Strength Giver, and he encouraged his readers to do the same when he wrote, For the rest, my brethren, delight yourselves in the Lord and continue to rejoice that you are in Him. For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances (Philippians 3:1a, 3 AMP). Paul continues by listing his outward privileges, physical advantages, and external appearances as a Hebrew of Hebrews and as a Pharisee. In his day, a man’s worth was measured in much the same way as it is in our society—education, political standing, employment, possessions. In our world, Paul would have been a CEO with a lot of political clout.
When he became a follower of Jesus Christ, Paul chose to denounce everything that gave value to his former life. Listen to what he said about it, But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one combined] loss for Christ's sake (Philippians 3:7 AMP).
The more we trust in Jesus the less meaning this earth’s “essentials” hold. Have you ever walked through your house and thought what you’d take if all you were permitted to take was what you could put in the back of a pick-up truck?
My thoughts go to my laptop, sketch pads, canvases, pencils, paints, paint brushes, clothes, and blankets (I hate being cold). While my more practical side, my husband thinks of canned food, a grill, a cooler full of frozen meat, beverages, and of course his rifles, ammo, bow and arrows (to supply more meat when the frozen stuff runs out). I’m glad God put us together. At least we wouldn’t starve in a month.
Looking at our possessions and deciding what we’d leave behind adds a new dimension on our trust. What are we trusting God for? Great wealth? Prestige? Toys? A CEO position? Health?
Before you answer, let me ask one more question: What is the essence of life?
Food? Can we have life without sustenance? A human can live between 28 and 76 days without food before perishing. So technically, the answer is yes.
Water? Can life exist without H2O? Clinical evidence states that within a mere 3 to 10 days a person will expire. However, for those days, he/she still has life.
Air? How long can you hold your breath? It would appear that air is the essence of life, but wait. People have gone for over three minutes without air, rarely, I admit.
Food, water, air are essential for life on earth. However, as Christians we believe in a far better place where: Never again will they hunger . . . (Revelation 7:16a NIV). Although we are informed that food will be plentiful in heaven, it doesn’t seem essential for life there along with water. It may seem ludicrous to say air wouldn’t be essential in God’s Kingdom, but it may not even exist there.
For Christians, there’s only one answer—Jesus Christ. Jesus is the giver and sustainer of all life. The Bible tells us more than that. He is Life. In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men (John 1:1-4 AMP). In verse 6 of chapter 14, Jesus says, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me. Through Jesus Christ, we have life on this earth. Without Him, the universe and all that’s in it would not exist. Plus, we have eternal life through Him. Therefore, by reason, Jesus is the essence of life.
Prayer:
Because you give and sustain all life, LORD Jesus, I choose to trust You in all circumstances. Thank You for renewing my strength from day to day. Amen.