“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.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Introduction
What does it mean to trust in the Lord? To have an authentic relationship with God.
1. Authentic Faith
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Of course zeal and passion are important, but the most important phrase here is “trust in the Lord”. It’s so easy to fake our faith, even fooling ourselves. We need to not just know Christ but apply his gospel to every aspect of our lives and make it real and ours. Everyone has faith, whether in another God or in no God at all. The difference is our object of faith. We believe in the Triune God. Do I trust the living God who is alive and working in my life now? Do I believe my life is in God’s hands and He is leading me? Do I believe God is the one and only true God? Where is my heart? Does it belong to the Lord, or to the world? We were created to belong to only the Lord. Our hearts originally belonged to the Lord, but we lost it because of sin. As a result, we have no choice but to be perpetually empty, reaching for anything that can fill it. We end up trusting no one else but ourselves. We end up building superficial relationships with people, without trust. Do we also build that same type of superficial relationship with God?
Do I trust in Christ who completely finished everything on the cross? When we truly trust that Jesus is my Christ, that he completely finished all of my sins and curses, our lives will completely change. However, we trust ourselves more than God. We trust other people, institutions and objects more than God. We know the answer the world needs, yet we don’t trust Jesus. We don’t realize the absolute necessity and uniqueness of Christ. We trust him for salvation, but we can’t trust him with our everyday lives: our relationships, our work, our worries and our future. Do I trust the word of God as the book of life? The living word of God. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The same Jesus that worked in the bible is working today in us. We cannot continue to live with our old nature of trusting ourselves. Let’s believe that God leads us by his Spirit in ways we cannot fathom. Let’s not just wish and hope, but have assurance and trust. Let’s trust in the Lord with all our heart and build an authentic relationship with God.
2. Our Life-long Struggle
All of our problems have been resolved in Christ, yet we still have troubles while we live on this earth. Therefore, we will need to have a life-long struggle with disbelief. When we have disbelief, we are filled with complaints and excuses. We blame our situation, other people, and ourselves. We are also filled with hatred, like Jonah. If God is real and the gospel is real, then anyone who encounters the gospel will be changed. We are also filled with humanism; our methods and experiences are better than God’s way. We understand the gospel with the filter of our own logic. We think science trumps faith.
How can we be freed from disbelief? By holding on to Christ, our Lord. Let’s realize our true value as children of God, as living witnesses for this generation and those who have Christ within them. Who is giving you disbelief, making you second-guess God’s word? Satan. However, Christ already overcame Satan and gave us his power and authority over Satan. Our spiritual battle is awareness that Satan is working and living with assurance that Christ completely defeated him and all we need to do is hold on to his name.
3. How Can We Submit to the Lord?
Submitting to the Lord begins with knowing Christ and his gospel, and understanding God’s mission and direction for my life. Submitting to the Lord means trusting in his sovereignty and confessing that our lives are in his hands. How? By acknowledging Christ in every aspect of your life: big and small. By completely collapsing on Christ.
Conclusion
Where does that trust come from? Worship. The more we worship, the more our minds will be renewed. Take the notes and organize them so they will become ours. Make God’s word the center of your heart and mind. What does it mean to make our paths straight? God is guiding us day by day, moment by moment. We are never alone because he is shepherding us to green pastures. There is complete satisfaction and wholeness in Christ. Immanuel is all we need.
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