Trusting God

March 6, 2016

by: Ciara Leilani

There will be times when your faith will be rocked to the core, your vision becomes blurry and your understanding of simple matters become too difficult to for you. Ever experienced a season like this? It’s during these times – these hard times, that your character becomes tested and your belief in the one true God gets tried by fire. What happens during the testing of your faith is what will determine what you become equipped for in the future. The testing of your faith produces endurance! What do you do when your name, family and career have been chosen as an specific assignments by satan and his cohorts? What do you down when you notice the bank account balance is getting low and you might not have enough to pay monthly expenses to keep the lights and heat on and food on the table?

Here’s what you do:

1. Steady yourself & Put on the whole Armor of God – Ephesians 6:10-18
2. Pray the Word over yourself – Matthew 21:22, Ezekiel 12:25, Mark 11:23
3. Praise & Worship out loud – Psalm 71:8, 100:4, 109:30, 147:1-20
4. Read the Word of God & Listen to it – Romans 10:17
5. Fast – Joel 2:12, Daniel 9:3, 10:3, Ezra 58:6, Matthew 6:16

For me, there is no turning back! I lived a life of ups and downs by my own doing simply because I did not look to God first and foremost. I made my own decisions and received my own consequences. Therefore I know what life looks like and even feels like without the counsel of the Holy Spirit, the favor of an all knowing and all seeing God and more importantly experiencing a love that is unconditional.  Now, I rely totally God for everything. Literally everything! Obviously, making mature choices requires mature options however with God at the center of one’s life there comes a peace and assurance when needing to make certain decisions. Trusting God means you know with certainty that He is responsible for your obedience because His word says so. He will honor the child that is obedient. Conversely, you are responsible for your disobedience. Prior to knowing and learning how to trust God, I held onto my mistakes and carried weights that could have been easily let go of with an honest and sincere conversation with God. Now, I know I can repent and my sins are forgiven immediately. I repent often and stay as close as I can to Holy Spirit knowing He is the Author and Finisher of my faith. Hebrews 12:2

It should be noted, that trusting God during trials and seasons of stillness does not mean neglecting to rejoice during the process.  Giving God the glory just as much during the trials as when you aren’t tells God you believe He is working behind the scenes even though you are unable to see with your physical eyes the progress. The Most High God is a Spirit and works in secret. His ways are much higher than ours and yet he honors the righteous prayers of mere mortals. I don’t think it is It enough to only praise the living God when we’re on the mountain top…no He deserves our praises even when we are in the valleys.

See, in these valleys of life that’s when He is closest to you. Whether that valley is The Valley of Regret, The Valley of Loneliness, The Valley of Rejection, The Valley of Temptation, The Valley of Resentment, The Valley of Condemnation, The Valley of Persecution, The Valley of Heartbreak, The Valley of Misunderstanding, The Valley of Hopelessness…whatever you can place in this statement, THE VALLEY OF ______________. When you’re in your valley, God in His majestic glory is inches from your heartbeat. He doesn’t get further away, he gets closer. Life is about trusting God. Period. Without trust your faith level diminishes and without faith you cannot please God. Trust God with your little, and with your great. He will NEVER fail you.

Ciara Leilani

http://www.ciaraleilani.com

Scripture References:

Deuteronomy 1:30-33, “The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.”

Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 13:5, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.”

Psalm 25:1-3, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.”

Psalm 28:7, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

Psalm 40:4, “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.”

Psalm 91:2, “I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 112:7, “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD”

Psalm 143:8, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”

Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 11:13, “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.”

Proverbs 28:25, “A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.”

Proverbs 28:26, “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”

Isaiah 2:22, “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?”

Isaiah 50:10, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

Luke 16:10-12, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? ”

Revelation 21:5, “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

In Jesus Name…Amen.