Why does trusting seem like such a hard thing to do?!

 What does it look like to trust God? “Trusting” God has always been a messy exercise for those who don’t have the benefit of the mythical prophetic hindsight. In a SUPER general sense, Trusting God looks like knowing who God is and acting in accordance with His character. IT is precisely, literally, exactly nothing more than walking by faith in the decisions that seem little AND the decisions that seem big. Unfortunately for the Western Minded individual, it is an exercise, there is not an answer.

How when I’m not being given money and I have to work hard for everything I’m getting do I trust God to provide? For me, the answer has always had to be that I must remember the ACTUAL source of the “everything I’m getting.” There is a pernicious and diabolical lie, that has been told since Adam decided to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge and evil, that if we work harder we will get more. Genesis paints a bleak picture of the future for humanity until that promised Redeemer arrives. Nowhere in scripture does God say that “hard work = stuff to use for living.” Our perspective (which is often grandiose, I mean we ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD…) often leads us into believing that our plans must be God’s designs, but really, I think it’s MUCH simpler than that. God wants us to do what will lead other people to the knowledge that God loves them SO much that He sent His Son. You know this story… How you get there is all about the beauty of the human mind (that God designed!) and the human body (that He also created to be able to DO WORK!) and God’s limitless sovereignty over the decisions that people have the free will to make. Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan to redeem people by working in a factory instead of being a pastor? WHO DO I THINK I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a pastor instead of being a veterinarian? WHO DO I THINK I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a veterinarian instead of a missionary? WHO DO I THNK THAT I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a parent instead of being a theologian?! WHO DO I THINK I AM?! WHO must I be if I can thwart the Creator God’s plan? Logically, I must be greater than that god, which makes it NO god at all! And if it is no god at all, why should I care? BUT since I have the preponderance of historical data and the living breathing Word of God to show me otherwise, I must admit that I am NOT GOD. And since I am not God, I must put myself back in the proper role of created, owned, and provided for. I cannot guarantee that I will keep breathing today, because I was not the one responsible for making breath. I cannot guarantee that my loved ones will continue breathing either! I can say that I will be content with whatever the ONE who does control those details decides, and I can decide that I will give Him glory for the fact that He ALONE can control those details for BILLIONS of individuals concurrently! I can’t guarantee that all my hard work will not be struck by lightning and burned up, or catch some horrible fungal disease and be destroyed, or another evil madman will not sneak in and defile it. I can’t control anything but the mind that God me. And even that is not free from the impact of Adam’s sin. So, the simple answer (that took me 502 words) to your question, “How do I trust God to provide for me while I labor for another?” Ask yourself, “Am I doing what I can to be part of the Master plan? Remember that the “other” is also just making it up as they best understand it. They can’t control anymore of the things than you can. Thank God for the opportunities you have had to experience things that you’ve enjoyed. Trust Him for more of those things (like paychecks and no debt-collectors!) and ask Him for the grace to trust His character through the difficult things as well.