Have you ever said you were trusting God and then realized you weren’t? The Lord gave me this revelation about a month ago. About a month ago, I discovered several lumps in both of my breasts. Like most people would, I jumped to Google and quickly self-diagnosed myself with a type of cyst. No need for concern.
After about a week, I thought that I should probably see a doctor to confirm the diagnosis I gave myself. I have a baby and a husband. Just to be safe, I thought it’d be best for an expert to confirm it. Long story short, I went to the doctor, and she said that “out of an abundance of caution” she was referring me for scans.
I was completely shaken. My expectation was that she would immediately confirm the internet diagnosis and I would move on. When she said I needed scans, it sent me into a spiral of “what ifs” and vain imagination.
When I asked God how I got to that place, how could I be so full of peace going into the doctor’s appointment and leave so distressed? He showed me it was because I was trusting in the internet diagnosis and not Him.
So my question for you today is what are you trusting in?
Before we dive in, I just want to be clear that I am definitely not perfect at this (as evidenced by the example above). God is gently teaching me this over and over in this season, so I want to share in hopes that it helps you too.
What trusting God doesn’t look like
The first step to trusting God is identifying where you’re not trusting God. Here are some indicators that there’s something you’re not trusting God with:
- Going to your husband before going to God
- Going to friends before going to God
- Going to Google before going to God
- Trying to control a situation
- Doing endless research to settle your mind
- Avoiding thinking about the situation/avoiding anything that reminds you of it
- Playing out a situation in your head over and over with possible outcomes
Take a moment and ask God to reveal to you any areas you’re not fully trusting Him. Use the list above if needed to help you reflect. If as you were reading, a random situation popped into your mind, that’s probably the Lord telling you that’s a situation you’re not trusting Him with. But don’t take my word for it, pray about it.
What trusting God does look like
When I think of what it looks like to trust God, I think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel’s friends). You can read the full account in Daniel 3, but here’s a summary.
The king at the time said everyone needed to bow down and worship a gold statue when any kind of music played. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that God says not to worship any other gods, so they refused. They didn’t choose to obey the king out of fear, they chose to trust God. When they were reported to the king, the king was furious.
As punishment the king decided to throw them into a “furnace of blazing fire.” Their response was, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Now that is trusting God.
The king turned up the heat so high that the soldiers carrying them up to the furnace died, but they didn’t die. They could be seen walking around in the fire and the king could see a fourth person in the furnace with them (God). When they came out, the fire had no effect on them or their clothing. They didn’t even smell like fire.
When I look at them, I see bold faith and peace that surpasses understanding. That is our inheritance. When we choose to surrender the fear, surrender the validation of others, surrender the self-reliance and control, we inherit bold faith and peace that surpasses understanding.
Trusting God with our babies
An easy area to accidentally slip into not trusting God is with our kids. We’re in control of their day-to-day activities and people look to us to make their decisions, so it’s easy to operate from a place of self-reliance and control. But the reality is they are God’s kids. He has entrusted us to raise them according to His will while they’re on earth, but they are ultimately His.
Trusting God with our kids looks different when they’re 1 and 18, but in every season it’s so important. Ask God where you’re not trusting Him with their lives and with parenting. Let’s step into the role that God designed for us as moms, as caretakers and loving them so well, and let’s trust God with the details of their lives and well-being.
It’s time to surrender
Some things are easy to surrender. Once you have the awareness that you need to surrender it, you can give it to God and that’s the end of it. Other things require intense discipline and that’s okay. Getting to a place of bold faith and peace that surpasses understanding is worth the effort.
My prayer of surrender usually sounds something like this:
Lord, I confess I’ve been not trusting you with XYZ situation. I’ve been super fearful. I lay it down at your feet. Thank you that you are in control of all things and you love me. Thank you that you are always doing what is best for me. I choose to trust you. Help me to trust you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you’re struggling with something that continues to come back into your mind, take the thought captive. Choose to stop thinking about it and remind yourself that you already surrendered it to God and are choosing to trust God with it. Cry out to God that your desire is to trust Him but you need help. It’s okay to ask God for help.
One of my friends uses a “God box.” It can be as simple as a Kleenex box. When there’s something you need to surrender to God, write it on a piece of paper with the date and put it in the box. If you start to try to control it again or not trust God with it, take it out of the box, write the date on it and put it back in the box. This is a physical way to remind yourself to surrender and stay disciplined in it.
Trusting God gives Him the glory
The end of Daniel 3 tells us that the King then praised the one true God and made a rule that anyone who spoke negatively about God would be killed. “For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
Do you believe there is no other god who can deliver like this? Do you believe there is no internet diagnosis better than what God has for you? Can you rest in what God is telling you rather than what the person next to you is telling you?
Going back to the story I started with, I got the scans done last week. I spent the days leading up to it clinging to God. I shared in last week’s post (Enduring Trials Faithfully) the practical steps I was taking to get me through. Check it out if you’re walking through a tough season.
I felt like I went into the appointment fully trusting God and believing in His goodness. What they found was even better than the internet diagnosis that I initially wanted to trust in. It is just glandular tissue. Praise the Lord!
It may feel hard to trust, but He is so worthy of our trust and He is so good. Let’s expect His goodness. “There is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
Prayer
Lord, we desire to trust you wholeheartedly. Please show us where we’re not trusting you and you’re inviting us into more. We want to walk in the bold faith and supernatural peace that you have for us. Help us to do it every second of every day. We know you are good and you are worthy.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we declare before our enemies that we do not need to defend ourselves. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, we know you, God, are able to save us. You will rescue us from all things. But even if you don’t, we want to make it clear that we will never serve false gods or worship idols. You are worthy of praise in all situations. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Wondering about how to know God? Check out the gospel message. I would love to pray for you! Please let me know how I can be praying here.