A Practice that Protects the Heart
November 24, 2024
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What a week we have had with a State of the Union address on Tuesday night, complete with drama, then an impeachment vote on Wednesday. I have been hearing a lot of people talk about not being able to trust the government.
In addition, I have been hearing a lot of people talk about struggling to trust people. Husbands let their wives down, and vice versa. Friends disappoint. Romantic relationships disintegrate. Let’s face it. We can’t trust people, and oftentimes we are the person who let the other down.
In the midst of these conversations, I have been contending with various insurance companies all week, 
appealing the decisions of people, finding their errors, and supplying endless documentation to those who keeping asking for more. I have always struggled with what I perceive as heartless institutions with people who don’t know me, yet have the power to greatly impede my life with their decisions. Needless to say, the struggle to trust has been particularly near and dear this week.
How can we stay calm in all of this?
To me, there is only one way to remain stable and calm in this chaotic world, and that is to not trust any of it.
I don’t trust anyone or anything.
Don’t get me wrong. We all trust in something. If not people or government or institutions, then what?
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Psalm 143:8
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8
I trust God.
And only God. Sure, I don’t do it perfectly, but over the years I have gravitated more toward shifting all of my trust in God, not some of it.
And the list goes on.
Make your own list. Make it long.
So what does that look like in real life when things go well?
My husband and I are working together on some financial issues right now and our perspectives on money can differ. While I was at work this week, he made some decisions without me. When he told me his decisions, I was able to calmly say, “No problem. I support that,” because I never was trusting him. I am trusting God to get us through the financial mire, and God is steering us through.
What does that look like in real life when things go poorly?
One night this week my son struggled to speak to me respectfully, and in the midst of those struggles I opened an emergency room bill in the mail for $1,000. What we thought might have been a broken ankle had turned out to be a very expensive sprain. Several things were going wrong emotionally for me that evening. For one, I was slipping into fear that my son was not going to turn into a fine young man if he didn’t learn to treat people respectfully! In other words, I was making this one evening of his life the deciding factor in determining whether he was going to be a success or failure in life. Please tell me I am not the only parent who has done that.
Secondly, I have already voiced my lack of trust in all things bureaucratic in this post, so I struggle with financial surprises as well, particularly ones that come in the mail from hospitals and banks. The combination of these two dynamics caused me to collapse emotionally. I took my son to Wal-Mart to get snacks for a church retreat this weekend. What should have been a smiled-filled errand turned out to be a quiet one. Mom was emotionally distracted and quiet instead of engaged and joyful.
But because I have been practicing placing my faith in God alone, not people or a checking account, I caught things quickly. Within thirty minutes, I confessed to God my lack of trusting Him with my finances and with my son’s future. Then apologized to my son, and it was all over. Smiles and joy returned. The bill was placed on my desk to deal with on Monday.
My trust returned to God.
Let’s not trust a thing this week. Just Him.
Picture Explanation: It snowed. Doesn’t happen much around here, so we enjoyed watching it come down in big, fluffy puff-balls for a few hours.
© 2020 by Oaks Ministries. All rights reserved.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6
8 Responses
Thank you, Laurie, for this post! Thanks for the reminder that all is in His hands. Thank you for your vulnerable personal examples that help me to consider how I can demonstrate trust to those around me when “life” doesn’t seem to cooperate with my agenda.
Yes, all is in His hands. Our circumstances are His tools to test us, grow us, sharpen us, teach us more about Himself, and allow for more room for Him to be displayed through us. As for being vulnerable, I just have to assume that I am not the only one. We are all in this battle for holiness…for holy responses…together. Thank you, friend.
I look forward to reading your posts every week! Grateful that the Lord can ALWAYS be trusted.
ALWAYS. So glad.
Hi to anyone reading this post and this comment. Please read Laurie’s post from February 2, 2020. I think it is the best post she has ever written. It is rather humorous and VERY instructive. God is so good to give us Laurie and his words spoken to us!
Thank you, my friend. 😉
Thank you for your post, Laurie. Who we are and what we do really does matter. Yesterday’s Old Testament reading from Exodus 28 in The One Year Bible talked about how Aaron should be clothed because he was set apart for God’s service. To us, God says in Ephesians 4:23-24, “and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” So, how we appear to others really does matter to God because we are set apart for His service, and our attitude is visible to all. Ouch. The New Testament reading was from Matthew 25. Jesus was teaching the disciples that what they did (or didn’t do) mattered too. In verse 25 He said, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Attitudes and actions matter. Finally, the reading from Psalm 31 said in verse 14, “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.'” So, as I prayed for my son Aaron, God was convicting me , too, All I can say is, “I trust You Lord.”
Isn’t it amazing how the three pieces of Scripture from within different portions coincide? Welcome to the miracle. Let’s keep trusting the Lord. It’s a safe place to be.