I haven’t been sleeping very well lately. I am usually a fantastic sleeper, and even now I can fall asleep when I am going to bed easily. But, in the early hours of the morning I began to wake up. My head starts running with a million things to worry about. It’s awful.
Last night I was doing a cycle of waking, worrying, attempting to pray and focus on positive things, sleeping, waking again….
The last time that I woke something wonderful happened, as my mind started to worry God brought a verse to my head. All night I had been trying so hard to think of a verse or song that would help me and I wasn’t able to bring one to mind. But in just a split second without any effort on my behalf, God provided one for me.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
This is a verse that I have heard a million times, but God and His word are amazing like that; you can hear something over and over and then when God brings it to you, it has a whole new meaning.
The verse got me to thinking of all the things that I try to trust in when I am not trusting in the Lord: myself and my abilities, my husband, or money. I’m not saying that I shouldn’t trust my husband, but Dustin should not be where the source of my trust comes from.
I have an issue with money. I do not like to spend money because I feel more secure when there is money in the bank, the more money there is in the bank the better I feel and as it dwindles down, I start to fear and panic. Saving money is an important concept to learn in life (one that we are still working on) and spending money frivolously and excessively are things to be careful not to do; but money in the bank should not be my source of security and trust.
We have been at a sort of crossroads since selling our business over the summer. Everyone thought we were crazy because we sold our business without another plan in process at the time. We know 100% that God had led us to selling our business and after lots of prayer God brought us the exact buyer that we had prayed for. There were ups and downs in the process, but through trusting God, I knew that somehow it was going to work out, and it did.
It isn’t easy to trust God when it means that you are stepping out without knowing where the future steps are going to be. And it is even harder when you have to try to explain this to friends and family who think you are crazy, but we trusted God together and pushed through.
Well, God doesn’t usually work by showing us the whole plan up front, just little pieces at a time. I have an issue with wanting to know the whole outcome and constantly struggle with remaining in the present and trusting God with the step He has given me for the moment.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” If you have ever walked through the woods at night, you know that it is dark. The leaves on the trees block out any light from the stars and moon and you are in total darkness. It can be scary, you can’t see and you don’t know where to step. However, if you have a lantern or a flashlight you can see where to step, but you can only see a step or two in front of you, not the whole path. The light shines enough to keep you on the path and to see a little bit in every direction, but not far enough to see the end destination. You have to trust that each step you take is leading you closer to where you want to go. If you accidentally step off the path, the light will show you enough to know that you are not going in the right direction anymore and you can backtrack to the path.
This verse says that is how God works. His word leads us and helps us know where to go. At times He might even speak a dream or direction into our hearts, but then it is our job to make sure that we are trusting in and following God to get us there, at each little step. He wants us to trust in Him and know that if we are faithful to Him in the small steps, then we will eventually reach our end destination.
We just spent yesterday celebrating the birth of Jesus. I think Mary and Joseph are great examples of following God at each little step. When the angel spoke to Mary and to Joseph, he didn’t reveal God’s entire plan for their lives. He gave them one piece of the pie; it was a huge one, but still only one. Mary would have the baby and they would name him Jesus.
Then when they were ready to return home, God let them know it wasn’t safe and they needed to go somewhere else. They listened. God didn’t tell them how long they would be there or exactly what they should do while they were there, just to go.
Can you imagine if Mary was trusting in only Joseph or money to lead them in life? Joseph would be in a losing situation because he was only getting little pieces of information as he needed them. He didn’t know the exact plan, he trusted in God to lead him. If Mary was demanding all the answers from him and only trusting in him, it would be a losing battle for Joseph and scary for Mary to follow someone without a complete plan. Her trust had to be in God.
What about Abraham? In Genesis 12: 1, 4a we read “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you’… So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” God said “Go” and Abram went, not even knowing where he was going. God gave him some direction, but not every detail. He said “go to the land I will show you”, not “go to the exact place I told you about and here is exactly how to get there”.
Things can be scary in this life. Money seems to be tight for most people. Jobs can be unsecure. Your house might not be worth what you owe on it. The public schools can be scary. In some locations the tension between races is growing. Our Government makes questionable decisions for our future. Life can just be plain scary… but we have the choice to “Trust in the Lord with all our heart”. Does that make all the scary go away? Unfortunately, no, but it puts our focus on the One who can make all things right.
And while I know that I don’t know exactly what will happen in the future or if things will get worse before they get better, I do know that trusting in God is the way to go.
Ann says
I’ve always been a light sleeper and a night owl…I think my perfect schedule would be third shift, but unfortunately, my hubby and I both work days. I’m also a worrier by nature. So, I can relate to your inability to sleep. I also have read and memorized both Proverbs 3:5-6 and Psalm 119:105. They’re great verses for times like this. We definitely don’t know all the details of God’s plan, but we can trust in His guidance in our lives. I am constantly having to remind myself of this fact, though. Our focus must be on Christ alone!! Have a blessed New Year!!