Trust … and then what?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and … and what? What will happen? Let that sink in for a moment. Trust in the lord with all your heart and all your dreams will come true? Trust and suddenly your problems melt away? Trust and all your questions are answered?  Doesn’t Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”?
Last night we had a young missionary talk to us about his time spent in Taiwan. As he spoke he was overcome with emotion as he recounted the experiences of seeing millions of people praying to idols, building fires to audaciously manifest their reliance on the gods that don’t exist. I was thinking, “Someone needs to go up there and give him a hug.” And when he was done speaking and sat down, our pastor got up and hugged him with these words. “You’re passionate about leading souls away from idols.” It’s obvious that this man’s heart is burdened for people who worship idols and who put their faith in gods they see but don’t exist.”
After the service another man was recounting the past week and the incidents that occurred on a national level and those close to home. “We don’t know what tomorrow brings.” he said. Tomorrow? I don’t know what will happen in the next five minutes. We have this moment … this one moment that connects to the next moment and the next. I started thinking about my path. What am I passionate about? Is my passion aligned with what matters most? Like the young man who painfully described his experience with idol worshippers? Do I have idols in my life that are in conflict with God’s plan for me? What I really want is to be like David in Psalm 31:5-7 “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord.  I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.”
When I got home I prayed and thought and thought some more. – When I make my plans do I really consult with God about directing my steps? Do I have idols that I don’t recognize as idols? I have strongholds that grab my attention and turn my focus from God’s plan because I forget that he is there to hold me up and light the path ahead. I forget what I learned from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
I know I should put God first in my life. I know I should seek him first and always. The idols in my life are the ‘things’ I’ve come to rely on that are good, but they aren’t God. So if I put my total trust in him … well, it’s true for anyone. That irritating person at work will still be that irritating person at work. The chronic illness or pain might not be healed. The financial burden won’t dissolve overnight. Here is what will happen though. When we put our trust in God and seek him first, those things that cause us grief will still be there, but we’ll have inner peace while we work through them. Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”  Does anyone else want to burn idols and put God and his plan first? I could use that Rock eternal. How about you?