Need I even say it, everything’s pretty chaotic right now.
With the corona virus spreading, most shops shutting down, the borders to most countries being closed, and hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs worldwide, there is a sense of panic and fear starting to arise.
But in the midst of the chaos, we are still called to trust.
To trust that God is still good, to trust that he will always provide, to trust that he will never leave us nor forsake us. We are called to deeply trust in him despite the fact that we can’t see how everything will work out or even where our next pay check will come from.
Childlike trust
It’s so strange how even as an adult, there arethings about your childhood that you can remember so clearly, as if it were yesterday. For me, that was trust.
I still remember having a complete trust in my mum that she would provide, protect, and look after us. I trusted that there would be food on the table and a warm bed to sleep in. I trusted her to protect us from anything that could go wrong. I still remember believing that she knew everything, and that she was always going to be able to get us out of whatever situation we ended up in.
I trusted her regardless of how things were going.
I think that’s how we’re called to trust God, with an innocent, childlike trust that he will always provide everything we need. A trust that he has the ability to do anything, regardless of how hopeless things seem.A trust that he has our best interest at heart and loves us deeply.
He is a good God, and a deeply loving father. And it brings him great joy to give to us. It brings him joy to be trusted by us.
Knowing truth, over fear
Before everything happened with the corona virus, my primary job was centred around working with school aged kids, so it’s needless to say that when the corona virus started to spread, our company had to temporarily close down.
I think the normal response in that situation would be to worry and become fearful of what could happen.
But, throughout the last few weeks, anytime I would feel afraid God would comfort me with his peace. Any time I felt the temptation to be upset by the whole situation, he would remind me to look back at him. Any time I felt worried, I would stop and thank Him, knowing that he would provide.
There have been countless times where I’ve needed a job, a new car, finances, or even simple things like clothes, and he has always, always provided for me.
Growing through the trial
Whenever we go through stretching times and we can’t see how God will provide, it can be easy to become upset and bitter at our circumstances. But I believe that trials and things that stretch us are there to make us better, not bitter.
James chapter 1, Verses 2-4 says,“consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
To be mature in our faith, and to develop deep God-like character, we need to walk through trials with a humble and surrendered heart. And as we walk through it, the Lord will clip and prune anything in our hearts that isn't of him, so we can come out of it with a heart that purely reflects his.
But, when we become angry and hard because of our circumstances, we build up walls in our hearts against him, and can block what he is wanting to do.
Staying gentle, humble, and surrendered in the midst of trial and pain can be incredibly hard, and a battle that we will have to fight many times, sometimes even multiple times a day. But it's worth it, it's worth the struggle for the beauty that is creating in you.
Don’t give up
Walking in deep trust brings a lot of freedom, freedom from fear, freedom from worry and freedom from the stress of trying to work everything out by yourself. You can rest in the assurance that he has got your back, and within everything you're going through he is creating something so beautiful inside of you. Something that looks like him.
He has an incredible plan for your life, and the trials you face are only a passing moment. Soon they'll be gone, and you'll be welcome to move forward.
But for right now, if you're in that trial, if you don’t know how the Lord is going to provide, I encourage you to stay surrendered and lowly before him, allow his grace to carry you through it. Trust that he knows what to do.