For or Through?

The 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

 

It seems that the 23rd Psalm is mostly read at funerals.  That is surely an appropriate time to read it, but I challenge you to read it right now, but apply it to your life now.  I made the fourth verse bold because that is the one I am going to focus on today.

"A  true relationship of trust in God extends beyond trusting Him for something and includes trusting Him through a situation,"  Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day, page 33.

After I read the above sentence I had to stop for a minute and really take it in.  It is common to say we are trusting God for something.  Maybe you are trusting him for justice, a new job, a healed marriage, or a healed body.  The list is as varied as the personalities of the people praying the prayers.  If you are anything like me the main focus of your prayer is asking God to remove the trouble.  I don't know about you, but I really enjoy being comfortable.  When a problem arises we immediately start binding Satan and doing "spiritual warfare."  Now I totally and completely believe in spiritual warfare, after all, the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be alert and of sober mind. Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Like for real, this isn't a figurative verse.  By immediately wishing away our thorn what are we missing?  By focusing our trust on God for something what are we missing?  A lot I say.  We would miss out on the wealth of wisdom and discernment we gain during the hardest times of our lives.  I would seriously not trade that for having my prayer answered instantly.  I love what Joyce Meyer says in her daily devotion Trusting God Day by Day, "I need to learn to not simply look to Him for the results I desire;  I need to learn to trust Him through the process of attaining them."  I am maturing in my walk with God (thank goodness) and I am starting to pray different prayers. 
God is teaching me to trust Him through situations.  Rescuing doesn't usually come when I think it should.  Actually in John 16:33 He tells us that we will have trouble in this world.  Along with that promise comes one that gives me a great deal of peace.  Deuteronomy 31:6 assures me that I can be courageous and not terrified because He will never leave me nor forsake me.  I have questioned this verse at times.  I questioned it big time watching my mother die of cancer.  So He's with her?  So what.  Her vision and hearing are still failing because of the brain tumors.  Her mouth is full of thrush because of chemotherapy.  She won't get to see Eli grow into the Godly man she claimed he would be.  When I pushed aside those feelings for a minute what was really in my heart came through.  He was with her every step of the way.  He was with her right at the end when she took her last breath and uttered "Christ...now."  I do not pretend to have the answers on the why of things.  I will bet the farm that she knew He was with her the entire time and would have never, ever wanted anything else.  I asked God once to help me understand the whole 'He is with me' concept.  He is with me and I still have this huge issue...God, help me make sense of this.  I told Him I wanted to be comforted by Deuteronomy 31:6, but just was not.  In my heart of hearts I heard this, "well, what if I wasn't with you..."  I honestly don't even want to think of what that would be like and I guarantee my mother wouldn't have wanted to know that either!

So why is it easier to trust Him for things more than through things?  This took some thought.  Trusting Him for something has an immediate connotation.  What did you get for Christmas?  What did your husband/wife get you for your birthday?  See what I mean?  Trusting God for something leaves out the wonder.  I know what I want and have already determined my desired outcome.  Trusting Him for something makes it easier on me.  There is minimal responsibility on my part.  It is like an immediate miracle.  In my case trusting God for healing relieves my discomfort right away. 

Now on the flipside, trusting God through a situation is a bigger giant to bring down.  T-H-R-O-U-G-H = T-I-M-E.  Through is a journey from one point to another and often to get from A to B we have to go through the entire alphabet twice before we arrive.  Just hearing the word makes me want to run away screaming, "I want it now, now, NOW!"  It takes a healthy dose of God's grace to be patient when we are waiting to arrive.  Remember the true definition of patience is waiting with a good attitude.  Trusting God through a hard time in life requires me to activate my faith.

So let's take a closer look at the word faith.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  If you are anything like me that verse is totally confusing.  I have read several commentaries on it.  Each time I read I think I get it and then I don't.  Here are some other ideas of what Biblical faith is.  Oh and saving faith is something entirely different and that's not what I am referring to here.  Anywho, here are those ideas.  I hope they help you.

-  taking God at His word no matter our feelings
-  accepts God's Word:  promises and warnings alike
-  having a holy reaction

Using an active faith as I trust God through a troubling situation requires me to trust Him to choose my journey and my outcome.  It also relinquishes my control in how long the process will take (ugh).  At this point I can pray that my outcome take as long as God deems necessary and not come as soon as possible.  Dave and I went through fertility treatments to conceive Eli.  It was not an easy time in either of our lives.  The treatments were very grueling.  If you have ever gone through this process my heart goes out to you.  After Eli was born my hormonal health got worse and worse.  Incompetent doctors and ignorance on my part made it all worse.  I have prayed everyday for over seven years for answers.  They are coming in God's timing.  Fast forward nearly seven years and I am making positive progress.  My human side would have much rather had God give me the nod to my prayers immediately, but He didn't.  He is bringing me through the matter.  My heart is 100% grateful He didn't answer with a resounding yes when I wanted because I would have missed out on seven years of intimacy with the God of this universe.  I am not the same person I was seven years ago and I am so very glad. 

By trusting Him to take us through the trial it is giving up all control.  It is waving the white flag of surrender.  It is saying, "God, I don't know how long this will take.  I don't know how this will turn out, but I trust You."  I encourage you to rely on His integrity, ability, and character to carry you through.  I hope you found this blog entry helpful and it enables you to look at God in a different light.  My hope is that it is thought provoking and that you will ask God to show you how my words apply to you and your situation.  When I type an entry it is truly like I'm typing it to myself.  Pastor Furtick says often that he wishes someone would preach his sermon to himself.  I feel the same way about my blog!  I am eager to share what God has showed me.