Trusting God can be difficult. Why? I think we all struggle with unbelief at times. In fact, people of the Bible struggled with trusting God. You see, trust is developed over time within a relationship. If I don’t know someone well, I tend not to trust them.
It is the same with the Lord. We need a relationship with Him before we will find Him trustworthy. This requires spending time with God in prayer, worship and in His Word. When we do these things, we will grow in our trust of the Lord. It is only then that we can let go of our will and turn to His will. Even the Apostle Paul had a journey of faith. It was only after developing a strong trust in God that he could say, 2 Corinthians 5:7For we live by believing and not by seeing.[1] This becomes part of our faith journey, also.
Trust God’s Promises
The Lord had made promises to Abraham that he would be the father of the promised Savior. Abraham believed God and Isaac, his son, was born when he was 100 years old and Sara was about 90. The birth of Isaac was a miracle and God indeed had kept His promise.
God had renewed His promise with Isaac. This was a promise that was to pass down through the generations. Genesis 26: 4 I (God) will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. [2]
Isaac had two sons, twins, and during his wife’s pregnancy God had given Rebekah a prophecy. Genesis 25:23The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son. [3]
A Lack of Trust
Even though Isaac knew all God’s promises, he wanted to bless the older son, Esau. Trusting God can be difficult. You see, Esau was Isaac’s favorite. By this time Isaac was almost blind and thought he would die soon. He told Esau to go hunting for his favorite game and prepare a meal from it. Then Isaac would bless Esau with the blessing of the firstborn.
Rebekah overheard the conversation. She was the one who had received God’s word that Jacob, the younger and her favorite, would be the son of promise. She devised an elaborate plan designed to deceive Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob. Jacob went along with the plan and did receive the blessing under false pretenses.
None of the people in this story ever consulted God for their plans. Each carried out their own will. None of them trusted God to carry out His will. They were on a faith journey to be refined by God.
Trusting God can be difficult. Where is the Lord calling you to trust Him and step into uncharted territory in your life? If you did, how would that change you and those around you?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, sometimes the way ahead seems so clear, but at other times the way seems shrouded with uncertainly and the road ahead seems to be hidden in the questioning shadows. I want to be in Your perfect will Lord, and I pray that Your will be done in every area of my life. I long to have Your assurance that this is the way to walk, but at times Your will seems to be hidden by a cloud of uncertainty and swamped by a foggy mist of unknowing.
As I step out into the future Lord, I place my trust in You. My desire is to remain in the center of Your perfect will for my life.
Lead me, Lord, on the right path that is best for me. You have promised to be with me wherever I go, for You know the steps that I take. My trust is in You and I want to do only that which glorifies You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.[4]
To hear more about Isaac blessing his sons, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/faith-makes-a-difference-isaac
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.