trust

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,” (Job 13:15). Job had many trials when he uttered this phrase. He put his trust in God, no matter what the outcome. Job trusted God to not only bring good into his life, but Job trusted God with his life itself. He loved God more than the substance and appearance of his life.

In reading the account of Job’s life we learn that Job had an enemy that sought to turn him against God. We also have trials, and an enemy who tries to turn us against God. His tactics are seen as slander of God, and accusing the brethren, even ourselves. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus we can overcome our enemy, satan. We read about this in the book of Revelation; “They overcame (satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death,” (Rev 12:11). Jesus’ blood covers the sin satan likes to accuse us with. The testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives is powerful weapon against our enemy’s intimidation. But it is the third part of this verse I would like to bring forward in this lesson as it also indicates that we should love God more than the substance and appearance of our life. I do not believe this part is only about becoming a martyr for Christ but the quality our lives take on as we love God more than our lives; so much that even those things we love about our lives are surrendered to Him. We will not turn away from serving God because other things come into our lives; things we deem as not good. It takes trust to follow a God who has sovereignty over what we love.

Until we trust God with our lives, we will not overcome our enemy. Our lack of trust will cause us to covet and protect those things and people we want in our lives. At some point, we will begin to trust ourselves more than we trust God. As trials tumble into the lives of those around us, and then into our own lives, we may begin to distrust God. Though we once had believed that God had a good plan for our lives, Satan will try to convince us that God’s plans are to do one crummy thing after another with our lives. This lack of trust will erode our relationship with God and eventually we will take things into our own hands. At this point we find ourselves mistrusting God.

If we could listen to the spirit realm during our trials we might hear our enemy whispering “curse God and die.” This is what Job’s wife spoke to him after he had suffered great loses and was covered with sores (Job 2:9). Satan wants us to curse God. He wants to put a wedge in our relationship with a God so loving that all His plans for us are good; a God who loves us so much that He walks through each trial with us personally. Satan wants our relationship with God to shrivel up and die. Our enemy will portray God as evil in order to get us to listen to him. This was his method in the Garden of Eden when the serpent spoke with Eve. He insinuated that God had withheld valuable knowledge about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Instead of the result being death, the serpent told her that the outcome of eating its fruit would be that “Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil,” (Gen 3:4-5). Saying this caused God to appear untrustworthy. Had Eve believed God was good and to be trusted, even though she did not understand His command, she would have withstood the serpent’s suggestion to eat the forbidden fruit. But unlike Job, Eve believed the serpent and brought the curse of death upon all Mankind.

In our lives we may find reasons not to trust God. A man that has a good job may not want to leave his source of income should the Lord call him to another place. A woman who serves her family may not want to seek employment should her husband lose his job. However, of whatever a man is overcome, the same is his master (2 Pet 2:19b). If we love people and things so much that we cannot entrust them to God, we will hold onto them tight and they will become our master. What we hold on tight to is what overcomes us. Yet if we yield the content of our lives to God, then we can call Him Lord.

Can we trust One whose ways are a mystery, who has many secrets from us? Can we lay the life we love and all it contains at His feet, trusting that what He does with our lives will be good? It is only when God looks untrustworthy that we find ourselves at a point of making a choice between serving Him, or serving our own desires. Yet the reward of knowing Him will only come to us when we build a relationship on the foundation of trust with Him. I’d like to encourage you to trust that God is good, and His plans for you are founded in love and in His righteousness. Amen.