Trust

Friction

Do you have any false gods?

Verse of the Day

‘Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord , who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. ‘

Psalms 40:4

https://my.bible.com/bible/111/PSA.40.4

Today’s Devotional

We have already established that trusting God is good, and valuable for our peace. And hard. But this verse puts false gods in direct opposition to trusting God. Let’s be clear about something.  I don’t know anyone who has an Asherah pole, a statue of Baal or any kind of physical idol.  But there are false gods all over the place in America. 

What are the things that we worship, that we turn our attention toward?  Money, success, security, control, material possessions, social status, an abundance of free time, intelligence, sex, personal accomplishments… these could all be named as false gods in our lives.  It would almost be easier to recognize them if we had physical statues of these things.  But do you know what is more telling than any statue?  It’s how I spend my time and resources.  What am I really worshiping based on how I spend my time and resources?

I want to trust God and I want the blessings that flow as a result of that.  But here’s where I have noticed some friction.  Trusting God assumes that His timing is perfect.  I may be praying about something, and if I’m being really honest, I want an answer or resolution today.  That’s not typically how God works.  Building trust in God generally requires waiting.  And waiting is hard.

I am reading “Love Does” by Bob Goff.  There is a chapter in the book about trusting God.  He is talking about how we want all the details before we are ready to follow where God is leading.  But that’s not the life we are actually called to live.  We are asked to trust and to follow without even knowing the destination.  That requires a great amount of trust.  Bob said one thing in that chapter that really stuck out to me. “You don’t need to know everything when you are with someone you trust.”  Think about it.  When your spouse or a really close friend invites you on an adventure but will give you no details, you are only willing to go if you actually trust that person. God is saying to us, over and over again, “Do you trust me?”  He is inviting us on an adventure, but we have to be willing to follow Him without any of the details.

I had to put this into practice recently.  I woke up grouchy because I did not want to go to a Zoom Bible class or online church.  I REALLY didn’t want to go.  I had too much to do and the pandemic is a perfect excuse not to “go” to church.  So I prayed.  Really, I just prayed that God would help me not to be grouchy.  A few things came to my mind as I was getting ready.  1- “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)  2- “Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” (Hebrews 10:25)  3- “Hey, do you trust me enough to practice what you’re writing?”

Here’s the thing.  Trusting God is hard to do when it completely contradicts MY desires.  That tells me that maybe SELF is my false god.  But I will tell you this, from my experience that day:  obedience is better.  I felt like a completely different person after obeying God that day.  Which then makes me trust Him all the more.

Journal Prompts

Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.

What are some of your false gods? Where and how do you spend your time and resources?  Is SELF a false God for you? Where is God asking you to trust Him but the waiting is hard?  When God whispers, “Do you trust me?” what is your response?  And do your actions align with that response?