Devotional Messages

Trusting in the Lord

Today I had two thoughts (that are somewhat related) from today's reading from Deuteronomy. The first is my reaction to Moses' words in 4:22: "I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan..."; and the second is my agreement with Moses' plea in 6:12: "be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

I draw attention to Moses' acceptance of his coming death because it occured to me that he did not doubt this at all. He had spoken to God and God had told him he would die, so he knew that would be the case. Can anyone have such great trust in the Lord today? Some would say 'No, because Moses was a great prophet and God spoke to him on many, many occasions; no one today has had such evidence of God's working in their lives'.

But I'm inclined to disagree. God is definitely worthy of our trust, there is no doubt of that, and I think that the more we're willing to trust in the Lord, the more He will reveal Himself to us, and the more we are encouraged to trust Him further. "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously" (2 Cor. 9:6). The better we understand how God works in this world, the clearer we'll be able to see Him working; and the clearer we see Him working the clearer we see Him.

Before we go any further, I want you to picture a long, slightly curving dirt road. You are standing on the road looking at your feet - you're wearing sandals and are not moving. Every now and again you look up at the road extending into the distance, wondering where it ends, wondering whether you'll ever get there. Your place on that road represents your trust in God - you want to trust God in every way with everything, but find that sometimes you just can't grow in trust, you just can't move any further along that road.

With that thought I ask, how do you move down that road to amazing trust in God? How do you grow from a new Christian to a mature Christian? How do you grow from a mature Christian to one who's faith would be described as 'amazing'? I think obviously, the key is to pick up your foot and start walking. Moses' level of trust wasn't instantaneous, he set out down the road with God, trusting Him as He directed him to, and seeing his trust rewarded.

But how do we start 'walking the road'? I now come to my second thought: Moses warns the Israelites to be careful that they do not forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt (6:12). Moses is reminding the Israelites of a starting point for their faith - 'Remember that God rescued you from slavery in Egypt through many mighty wonders and shows of strength - remember this and trust Him with all aspects of your life - do not turn away'.

We, like the Israelites, have much to be thankful for - much we can attribute to God's provision, love and power. For example, His calling us and enabling us to know Him through Christ. You, like I, will even have points in your life where you can look back and see quite clearly how God worked in the world and in those around you to impact your life in some way. These are our 'starting points' for trust - when we find ourselves trusting in ourselves for something, or simply not growing in trust, we must remember that the God who called us to know Him, who created us and who cares for us is surely worthy of the trust required to 'move one step forward'.

It is then that prayer must come - try the following:-

Oh Lord who has called me - a sinner - to know you, to live in a relationship with you; who provided your Son so that I could know you; who cares for me and sustains me; help me to entrust all in my life to you; help me to grow in trust always, so that your glory would be revealed in me, and so that I may know you better and please you more.