Sometimes I hear/see Aladdin asking this question to Jasmine in the movie, with his hand outstretched and that winning smile. Lately, God has been asking it to me…a lot.
He says: Do you trust Me? Is who I AM enough? Or…
– do you need to know why
– do you need to know the outcome
– are your emotions going to overtake you
– do you need to understand
– do you need to be in control
– is the thing you want more valuable than Me?
It’s so easy, and it can happen so quickly…these things (and many others) sneaking into my wholehearted trust in the Lord. But,
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
– Jeremiah 17:5-8
Isn’t it interesting that the one who trusts in man is the one whose heart turns away from the Lord. It’s always about our heart. Do you ever feel like you know that God has blessed you to overflowing, but you’re not seeing it, not feeling it? Maybe your heart just needs to turn. And because God is so gracious to all of us, it can. We can send out our roots, praying to hit water, and find an inexhaustible Source that’s been close by all the time.
I never thought before about God planting that tree near the water, near Himself, because He loves it. He’s always wanted us near Himself, and He has made it possible again. And that’s what it’s really about… more than the things we want, the situations that seem so big, even the dreams we haven’t spoken. It’s a relationship. Knowing Him, never having to be separated from Him. That is life.
I recently had the privilege of hearing someone tell me about how God redeemed a situation, a relationship, that seemed beyond fixing. Something had been broken and someone was not willing to budge…until Jesus. He is our Redeemer. When the break occurred, it seemed beyond hope. But…Jesus.
We can trust Him. When we do, we’re rooted. Steady. Confident. Not anxious, even when circumstances shift and the future seems questionable or bleak. We’re not afraid, even when the heat really gets turned up. The One we love is with us. The One who loves us unconditionally is near, and He is our hope.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
– Psalm 62:5-8
–Alicia Cameron
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