Trust AND Do Good
Do you know how to live out your trust in God? Do you want to know how to delight on God?
Verse of the Day
‘ Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart. ‘
Psalm 37:3-4
Today’s Devotional
Now we have added to our to-do list. Not only do we need to trust, now we must also do good. I guess we were always supposed to have been doing good while we were trusting. So let’s break this down.
What does “dwell in the land” mean? To me, it means to live and make your home and be a part of your community. When I go on vacation and rent a home, I don’t live there. I am just there temporarily for a fixed number of days. But when I dwell somewhere, it means that I am establishing that “land” as my home base. These days, our homes are not farms or ranches, so we don’t work the land, but we must still put down roots where we live. We should meet our neighbors. We should be a part of a church family. We should work and patronize local businesses. We should contribute to the overall health and well-being of our land. We should do all of those things (which are good) while we are trusting God to guide us.
What does it mean to “befriend faithfulness”? If I am friends with someone, I am familiar with them and I know them. There is an easiness of being together because the awkward newness has worn off due to repeated togetherness and getting to know one another. I think that’s what this verse is telling me to do with choosing faithfulness. I need to get through the awkward newness of being faithful until it becomes something that I rely on, even when those actions are not my first choice or inclination.
Verse 4, about delighting in the Lord and the desires of my heart, is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. And even though it’s one of my favorites, I’m still not sure that I understand what it means to delight in the Lord. Here are a few ideas from commentaries:
- “It is to cheer one’s heart and mind by considering and by faith receiving the multiple blessings of God.”
- “Expect all your happiness from him, and seek it in him.”
- “It includes a deliberate redirection of one’s emotions…[such as] Paul and Silas in prison, singing as well as praying.”
- “We cannot delight in the Lord without effort. We must withdraw our eager desires from the things of earth, fastening and fixing them on Him.”
- “The reason many apparent Christians do not delight in God is that they do not know him very well, and the reason they do not know him very well is that they do not spend time with him.”
Choosing to praise is delighting in the Lord. Choosing gratitude and acknowledging all the He has blessed me with is delighting in His generosity. Choosing to prioritize my time so that I can spend precious time with Him is showing God with my actions that I delight in being with Him.
So what, then, about getting my heart’s desires? I believe that many of my dreams and desires are God given. I also believe that the more time I spend with God, the more those desires change and take on a more Godly perspective. A desire that started off as completely selfish can end up becoming a life goal that is motivated by serving God and advancing His kingdom. If they are His will, they will be accomplished. And it all begins with trust.
(This journal is an example of this verse. I’ve always wanted to write, but I didn’t know what to write about. This daily journal began very organically, without a lot of striving or thought or effort to think of what to write about. The writing itself takes daily obedience and faithfulness. And God always seems to give me the words to write. I don’t know where this will lead, if anywhere further than where we are today. But I trust God enough that I don’t need those answers today.)
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How can you live out your trust by doing something good today? What might that look like? How can you live out your trust by putting down more roots where you live? What can you do to befriend faithfulness today? What are your heart’s desires? How can you trust God to mold those desires into His will? How can you delight in God today?