The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7)
Read: Ezra 3:1-4:23, 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4, Psalm 28:1-9, Proverbs 20:24-25
Relate: “Do you trust me?” That is the question Aladdin asks Jasmine when he holds out his hands and offers her to join him on the carpet. If she were a bit more like me, she would have responded, “Sure I trust you. As soon as you tell me how that thing works.” My temperament tends to be more along the line of, “trust but verify”.
The problem is, sometimes we don’t understand why and how what we are doing has anything to do with what we have been called to do. We are a bit like Daniel in that greatest of 80’s movies. We thought we were going to learn Karate but all the master has had us doing is sanding floors, waxing cars, and painting houses. We feel like we have been called to greatness but all we have been getting is a raw deal. And then…
React: We are stuck moving through time in a linear fashion. We cannot see the future. God, beyond time, sees all. We are limited to our own narrow perspective. God, omniscient, knows everything. Our perspective and reasoning and knowledge and ability to change events are so ridiculously limited. Yet time and time again, we question God. When we do so, are we questioning His power or His benevolence? Are we saying God is unable to help us or are we saying He doesn’t care to?
I almost didn’t use that Karate Kid clip because the first few I found included Daniel’s complaining which was laced through with cursing and blasphemy. But when you think about it, even though we might used a more sanitized vocabulary, isn’t our questioning of God just as blasphemous? We don’t know why God might have us cleaning toilets rather than counseling kings. We might never know why this side of heaven. Will we trust Him anyways? Do we truly believe that God is good, all the time?
Respond:
God, I will trust You. You are my strength and shield. You are my help. With all my heart I will trust in You because You have proven Yourself faithful time and time again. Though I might never see the entire pathway ahead, You have shown me enough to know what steps to take. Give me the courage to walk in it.
THE RIVER WALK 
Amen.
Very good! I like the questions you ask. They are good to reflect on honestly. If I really want to know God and love Him, I need to daily answer, listen and trust God completely. Thank you!
Beautiful!! Thank you.
Outstanding reminder of the importance of recognizing God’s sovereignty and trusting in it.
Well written and a great reminder!
It’s just so much easier to trust ourselves than God, even after the 1,000th or 1,000,000th time he proves himself to us.
Thank you for posting this. It opened my eyes to the things I was being blinded because I don’t fully trust His plans for me that it made me depressed for ages. Wow! I really heard God through this message.. Thank you for reminding that God is good all the time and to trust His will for us.
Thank you for this prayer this morning! I thought the Aladdin picture was an interesting choice for a Christian page since the movie makes it very clear they are Muslims, “Praise Allah,” etc. Your point is valid and I am glad to find that “The Lord” is referenced in your post since I am never sure when people say “God.” Who is God to them? Is it Jesus? It is for me. God came to earth in the form of Jesus to suffer the wrath for my sins and to die upon the tree so that I won’t ever suffer hell. Jesus rose from the dead to defeat hell so I can live forever with Jesus. Amazing God. Can we trust him? Yes, we can.
Good word. I admit, I did laugh at the part where you wrote, “We don’t know why God might have us cleaning toilets rather than counseling kings.” My first thought was, “The way to the Kings heart is through his throne.” I’m sorry…I couldn’t help myself. 🙂
LOL, that is awesome.
Thanks for a reminder of a question I should “daily” ask myself. Father God, do I trust You? No matter what is going on in my life, I pray my answer will be YES!! Great post.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring thoughts and bible verses through your blog posts. God bless you. 🙂
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