Have you ever put your trust in someone who ended up disappointing you or hurting you? Maybe you put your trust in your money and then something happened and suddenly you didn’t have it anymore.
Have you ever wasted years of your life trusting yourself?
There are many things people put their trust in that are not stable. But God loves us so much He won’t let us keep our trust in other things and simultaneously have a great relationship with Him. The truth is, God is the only One we can really trust all the time, in every situation.
I remember how I learned this lesson. Many years ago when my ministry was just beginning, there was a group of ladies helping me that I considered to be my best friends; I thought they would never hurt me. But eventually, I found out they were talking about me behind my back and telling lies about me. I was devastated and heartbroken.
My world was shaken and I didn’t understand what was going on. The pain in my soul was so deep. But looking back, I understand now that God was getting ready to promote me to a new level of ministry, and I couldn’t take those people with me. I also learned that we set ourselves up for a lot of pain if we think there are people in our lives who will never hurt us.
You know, we’re all human and we make mistakes. I don’t believe those women were intentionally mean; they were just imperfect people who made their own mistakes.
Another thing I learned is that it’s one thing to trust God FOR something—to change something or someone in your life—but it’s another thing entirely to trust God THROUGH something. I’m talking about continuing to trust God when He’s not doing what you think He should do and everything around you is shaking, when you don’t understand why.
I can tell you from personal experience that when everything in your life is shaking, the only real answer is to trust God and keep on trusting Him. I know it’s difficult to do this when you don’t understand what’s going on and the situation is not fair. It’s hard when you feel like you’re doing what you should be doing and you’re not getting a right result. And it’s especially hard when you see someone who is not doing the right thing, yet they are seemingly getting a better result than you are.
But I want to say it again: When you get into trouble that you don’t understand, that’s when you have to choose to keep trusting God—no matter what you think or feel, and no matter what your circumstances look like.
Hebrews 12:26-27 (NIV) says, “…[God] has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” God wants to shake things in our lives until only the things that cannot be shaken remain. He wants to work with us until we let go of all the unstable things so we’re only hanging on to the rock of our salvation—Jesus Christ—who cannot be moved or shaken.
It’s difficult when something is stripped out of your life that you’re not ready to give up, like a relationship or a position at work. But if you will trust God when hard things come, you’ll find later on that situations you thought were terrible were actually good in the end. All things are possible with God, and He can take things that aren’t good and work them out for our good (Rom. 8:28).
The key is understanding that you are a partner with God as you walk out His purpose and plan for you. He doesn’t just automatically work things out for good; we choose to trust Him and do what He shows us to do, and He works on our behalf so we come out on top when all is said and done.
If you feel like everything in your world is shaking, there are probably things in your life that you don’t need or that aren’t good for you and God wants to remove them. If you will trust Him and let Him do what HE wants to do, He will give you something stable. He’ll give you more of Himself!
I want to encourage you to make a determined decision to trust God with every single part of your life. Pray: “God, I invite You to shake everything in my life that can be shaken so only the things of You will remain in me.” He loves you, and no matter what condition your life is in right now, with God’s help, you can trust Him. You can relax and not worry, be at peace, not anxious or frustrated, believe God is going to take care of your situation, and simply let go of it and let God be God! {eoa}
