“Throughout My Word, I require that you trust Me. You must trust Me to be the God that I say I am. Trust Me when I say that Jesus is Lord and that He has done and is doing what My Word proclaims aloud. You must believe in My covenant and all of its provisions, and trust that what has been provided for you after you close your eyes for the last time will come to pass. I require you to trust Me with your every moment of life; that I will direct your steps and that you will prosper if you do so.
“Because I require you to have an unlimited amount of trust in Me, I place Myself in a position of being trustworthy. If that were not so, then all that I have said and all that has been done would be a lie. You can be confident of My promises because I am in covenant with you. You can be assured of My ability to direct your steps and fulfill My promises for your life. You can rest in the fact that I am your God, worthy to be honored. You may walk in some dark places surrounded by thorns but rest assured that I am with you. I will never leave your side, nor will I ever forsake you. I promise. You can trust Me.”
Eze 2:6-8 NIV
6) “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.
7) You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.
8) But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Ac 20:22-24 NIV
22) “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.
23) I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.
24) However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace...”
Ac 21:11-13 NIV
11) Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
12) When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
13) Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
If we look at this relationship with God through Jesus as a means for us to become “healthy, wealthy and wise” in this life, we will be sorely disappointed and deeply discouraged. We will make ourselves vulnerable to any attack of our enemies, and eventually distrust God completely. Should we expect and demand only a bed of roses, our life with the Lord will be one miserable experience. Few, if any, will see reason through us to embrace Jesus as Lord.
Whatever difficulties we may encounter have little or nothing to do with the trustworthiness of God. He never said that our life would be easy. In fact, He has often said that to follow Jesus would involve hardships, trials, and even death.
The Word says that if we say that we abide in Him, Jesus, we should walk and conduct ourselves in the same manner in which He walked and conducted Himself. He walked and conducted Himself in a world that mostly hated everything He said and did. The visible outcome of His actions was a miserable death on a slivered cross.
Paul - one of God’s most used messengers - was imprisoned, beaten often, and lived a good part of his life in squalor. In his eyes, however, none of that mattered. His God was not only worthy of trust, He was worthy of all praise and worship because of the honor of serving in that capacity.
We need to grow up and shake off all of the old teachings that proclaim that we call the shots with God, that He owes us wealth and success in some way. That kind of teaching is man-made foolishness and directly opposed to the Word of God, no matter how many times the Word of God is manipulated to try to prove that premise.
We have been bought with a price and have entered into God’s plan for the redemption of anyone who will hear. We are to carry God’s message of reconciliation to a dark and dying world that hates us and our message. It is a war won every day in the heavenlies and played out in each of our lives. We are God’s vessels, designed to implement His will, no matter what the cost might be to us.
His promises to us are that He will be with us every step of the way, guiding us and protecting us from faltering; and above all else, loving us. He can be trusted every moment of every day to do that. Praise Him for the privilege of serving a trustworthy Lord.
Turning my heart toward home,
Jim Corbett
