Tag Archives: Trials

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems? (Pt 3)

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil  (Proverbs 3:5-7).

The first installment in the continuing series, Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems, focused on the concept that God knows what trials and difficulties we face and how they will end according to the choices we make.  The second installment focused on how God is aware of the pitfalls and traps that await us on any path we choose when we are confronted with difficulties.  As we continue this series, this post will focus on one of the things that God tells us specifically not to do when we are faced with trials, tribulations, and difficulties.

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems?

Our own plans and schemes to get out or avoid difficulties have roots deeply embedded in our sinful nature.

Back when I was a graduate student at Southern Illinois University I lived in an area called Southern Hills.  It was university provided housing for single and married graduate students.  I had a next door neighbor that was a Church of the Nazarine member; he and I frequently had philosophical and doctrinal debates over just about every aspect of Christianity.  One particular afternoon, as he and I began talking about faith, he commented that God had opened a door for him and had allowed his loan to be approved – he went to one of those title loan places and borrowed $500.00 against his car – that he had owned and was clear of any other liens.

About two months into his payment plan, he lost his assistantship and could no longer afford his payment plan.  His car, a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Sport, was repossessed for a balance he owed of around $300.  Although the car’s value was well above what was actually owed, he had no other choice but to surrender the car.  Just like my neighbor, we have a tendency to see our difficulties, our trials, and our tribulations through world-focused vision.  Having world-focused vision means that too often our “solutions” are also world focused.  We devise plans and scenarios that we believe will help solve our problems that fail and cause us to become discouraged.  Our solutions can also put us in a predicament where God cannot bless us until we have repented of our own selfish plans.

God dealt with the children of Israel with this very thing – trying fleshly solutions to problems – as he was leading them out of Egypt.  Here God had worked a tremendous victory and had delivered them from the bonds of slavery out of Egypt.  He fed them manna from Heaven and provided water for them to drink.  While waiting for Moses to return from the top of Mount Sinai, they became concerned and demanded that an idol be made for them to voice their prayers.  They believed that Moses was no longer alive; rather than seek God’s will, they decided to rely on their own understanding of the nature of God  (Exodus 32:1-4).  Knowing that man is tempted to understand trials, tribulations, and even blessings through explanations of the flesh, God includes in the Torah a reminder that Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8).

As children of God, when we rely on our own understanding of our trials and difficulties rather than trusting in God, we remove ourselves from God’s protection We no longer see objectively or clearly and become weighted down by the desires of the flesh (Proverbs 30:12).  The Bible is filled with stories, both Old and New Testaments, where God’s people have chosen thier own solutions to problems they faced and had to deal with the repercussions of thier decisions.  Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah being his sister; Peter denied Christ three times rather than admit he was a disciple when challenged – are just two of the many stories we see preserved within the pages of the Bible.

The choices made by the Abraham, the High Priest Eli, David, Peter, and even back at the beginning with Abraham to  rely on their own undersanding of the difficulties and trials they faced brought them to the point that the prophet Jeremiah recorded as God explained Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up… I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity (Jeremiah 18:15-17).  God cannot look upon our sin of disobedience and protect us as he does when we are living according to his plan (Proverbs 2:6-9)

God calls us to reject the path that the flesh and world would have us to follow.  Instead, he calls us to follow the path he has set before us; David, the author of the Psalms tells us that God wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalms 16:11).  This path brings us beyond death and into life everlasting and it will bring us great joy in the end.

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems? (Pt 2)

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil  (Proverbs 3:5-7).

The first installment in the continuing series, Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems, focused on the concept that God knows what trials and difficulties we face and how they will end according to the choices we make.  That simple truth, if we would just take the time to remember it, would be enough to set many of our fears to rest.  In this post, we’ll look at another promise made by God in the same featured passage that should also bring us comfort if we’d just take the time to take our problems to God.

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems?

God knows where the pits and snares are in our paths and can lead us safely past them (Psalms 142:3).

This is something that David, the author of the Psalms, understood quite well.  When we allow God to lead us through whatever difficulty we face we can rest assured that he already knows where the traps and pitfalls are and will lead us safely over them (Psalm 91:3; Psalm 140:5).  Solomon wrote that those who do not rely on God actually put snares in their own paths, often not realizing that their decisions, which may seem wise at the time, will do nothing beyond increasing their distress (Proverbs 12:13; Proverbs 29:6; Ecclesiastes 9:12).  Everyone can think back to a time in their life when a solution we devised actually made the problem worse.

Additionally, God warns us that there are others – both human and demonic forces – that are constantly creating traps and blocks for us.  Yes, as hard as it is to believe, often times when we are facing difficulties there are family members and friends that will encourage us to take the easy way out.  Even Job faced this problem with his own wife and friends; they probably thought that their understanding of the situation and their solutions would benefit Job (Job 30:13).  In reality, their plans, had Job actually listened and done them, he would have been outside the will and protection of God.  Job understood that if he was going to survive what he faced he had to put his complete faith and trust in God.  Job understood that God knew the obstacles that awaited him.  All Job had to do was to follow the path that God had prepared for him  (Job 41:32; Psalm 16:11; Psalm 142:3).

There is no better demonstration of this principle than the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac.  Abraham faced a great trial – he had been asked by God to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice.  He had complete trust in God that he never hesitated from the path set before him.  When asked by Isaac where the lamb was for the sacrifice, Abraham simply replied that God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:8).  Abraham had enough faith in God that he was unwilling to do anything other than follow God.  He prepared the altar and even bound his son and was prepared to offer Isaac until an angel sent by God intervened to stop Abraham.  Just as Abraham had told his son, God had provided a lamb for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:13).

Many of us may never have to face a trial of the magnitude of either Job or Abraham; however, how we face the ones we do experience offers the same evaluation of our character and faith as was done to these two men.  We all know the numerous promises and blessings that God gave both men.  Job became even more materially well off and had a larger family after his ordeal; Abraham was promised that he would be the father of a great nation and through him all the world would be blessed (Job 42:12-17; Genesis 22:15-18).  God was able to bless these men because they put their complete faith in God and in his plan for their lives.

As mentioned in the first installment of this series, the apostle Peter had a similar test of faith when he stepped out of the ship to walk on water to Jesus.  As he chose his path, Satan used the storm to distract Peter and to shift his focus away from Jesus Christ and onto the current circumstances.  As the waves grew higher, the winds blew harder, Peter made the decision to concentrate on the trial he was facing – his surroundings – rather than keeping his complete faith on Jesus Christ and the path that he set before Peter.

Many years before, the prophet Isaiah wrote Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; even Isaiah, who had never seen Jesus walk on water or the Red Sea parted, understood that if God can create a path for us where it seems impossible, how much more is he able to protect us and bless us when we trust the path he has set before us? (Isaiah 43:16).

The apostle Paul, knowing the trials and difficulties that believers would face, wrote the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God; if God loved mankind enough to send his Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins, then how much more would he provide us direction to prevent us from failing.  It is through our personal devotions and prayer time, church attendance, and fellowship with other Christians that we strengthen our faith and begin to truly appreciate what it means to be a child of God (Proverbs 27:17).  All it takes is for us to put our faith in God and trust that he will provide us the strength and ability to overcome the difficulties or trials we face.

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems? (Pt 1)

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil  (Proverbs 3:5-7).

It doesn’t matter if you are a young-in-the-faith Christian or someone that’s walked with the Lord for many years – one of the things that we all struggle with is relying on God to meet our needs.  Its difficult during times of trouble to revert to the “old man” and come up with our own plans and schemes to solve our problems.  Paul wrote that our spirit and flesh are in constant battle because they are fundamentally opposed –  or spirit seeks the will of God while our flesh seeks its own survival and gratification (Galatians 5:17).

Solomon was a man that had been blessed with godly wisdom; as the author of the book of Proverbs, he addresses this very issue that both Christians and Jews have struggled with for generations.  As Christians, we say that we believe in Jesus, the power of him to forgive our sins, and even sing “let me hide myself in Thee…” and other great songs of the faith that are acclamations of fully trusting in God, yet we often turn to God as a last resort when our trials and tribulations are about to overcome us and we see no other way out.  What we should do, when we are faced with times of trouble, is to seek God’s guidance before we do anything else.

The next few entries to the Daily Walk will focus on the above passage and consider the reasons why, as Christians, we must allow God to be in control, we must resist the flesh when we are facing difficulty, and how through our trials and difficulties we can actually see our faith in God increased.  The first installment of this series of posts is simply:

Why should I put my trust in God to solve my problems?

This is a question that although we may not ask directly, we do ask it through our actions.  In my own life, when I have faced difficult decisions, problems, or even just the feelings of being alone, in stead of turning to God and allowing him to guide me through, I go into panic mode and try to rationalize a solution to the problem.

God knows the conclusion(s) to our problems before we realize we are at the beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8; Isaiah 46:10).

If there is ever a time we need to be reminded of this simple Bible truth it is when we are first aware that we are facing adversity.  It is at this stage we panic and instead of asking God for guidance, we often utter the questions, “why me, God?” or “What’s next, God?” or any variety of similar questions.  We fail to include God as part of our working solution, but instead, seek to blame him for letting us suffer.  It is a test of our Christian character that many fail; even the apostle Peter had this difficulty – it was only when he was sinking did he cry out to the Lord to save him from difficulty (Matthew 14:30).

Jesus knew that Peter was going to sink; we know this because the book of Matthew records that Jesus was able to reach down and pull Peter back up.  Before Peter called for help, Jesus knew the possible outcomes of how Peter would react to sinking among the waves.  He knew, before the sole of Peter’s shoe sank into the water that Peter would cry for help.  We see the same thing demonstrated with Job as God tells Satan Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8).

We have the benefits from having God’s promises and word revealed to us through the Bible, but Job had no such assurances.  All he had was his faith in what he knew God could do, unlike us that can see what God has done in the past.  God, knowing the end from the beginning, knew the outcome of what Job’s time of difficulty and troubles.  He knew, that no matter how Satan attacked Job, Job would not turn his back on God.  If God had even remotely saw that Job would have failed or that Satan would triumph, God would not have held him in such esteem.  God knew Job’s heart and knew the choice that Job would ultimately make (Psalms 27:11).

This same concept of God being able to see the end of a trial before we even see the beginning is demonstrated in the gospels.  Peter, sure of his ability to stand with Christ to the end, stated that he would remain by Jesus’s side no matter the consequences and even said that he was willing to follow Christ in death (Matthew 26:33-34; Luke 22:33-34; John 13:37-38).  Jesus, knowing the trial of faith and the path that Peter would choose, told him that the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me (Luke 22:34).

It is not that God had set Peter’s destiny in stone and stripped away his ability to make a choice according to his free will, but that Christ, knowing all things, knew the exact choice that Peter would make and the outcome of that decision.  Many denominations teach that it is the same about salvation; God knows who will accept and who won’t.  In fact, the Southern Baptist Convention is struggling with this concept – the concept of Calvinism, that teaches the idea that a person has been condemed to hell or is saved already at birth because it is their God-ordained destiny.  This is far from the truth – God allows the individual to shape his or her own destiny.

In fact, the Bible demonstrates that God knows the outcome of any action we make, regardless of what we actually do.  Christ taught Nicodemus this simple truth when he stated He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).  The key is understanding that right now, at this moment, you are either a believer in Jesus Christ or you are not – you have made this choice and the consequinces are already known to God – if you are saved, then you have everlasting life; if you are lost then you are condemned to suffer in hell for eternity.  The choice is yours to make; God knows the end result of either choice.  It’s the same concept with any other decision we make in this life – God already knows all possible outcomes.