“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” (Prov. 3:5-6, NIV).
If you have lived any bit of time following Jesus, you know that trust and surrender are not a one-off. Have you surrendered some behavior, person or care to the Lord, only to get down the road and realize you need to lay it all down again? Sure. We can only go as far as we know so it stands to reason that as we grow, we learn better how to more fully “let go and let God.” Proverbs 3 has been many a believer’s go-to verse in the process of trusting. And it is a process.
Faith is strengthened partly through the process of trust. Trust refines our faith. Your first expression of faith at salvation comes from the Holy Spirit. You don’t know God well enough to have built up any sort of trust. But you have faith through the Word of God, enough to say “yes” to Him. From that moment on, He proves His faithfulness, prompting you to trust Him for what you are facing. That decision to trust offers God another opportunity to strengthen your faith and the pattern goes on and on. Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1, NKJV). Trust is evidence-based and it builds a faith that, once strengthened, requires no proof at all.
Your faith shines for Jesus when you give it all to God, lean on Him, depend on Him. As believers, we don’t function the way others do because we are not planning our paths based on every shift of circumstance. Our living and moving is tied to the trust we have in God.
If you are believing God for big things in your life, you must involve God. You are a child of the God of the universe, the Creator of heavens and earth. You serve the God who was raised from the dead and conquered the grave. Nothing is impossible for Him. But you’ve got to lean on Him. {eoa}
Dr. Victor Torres is an internationally respected evangelist, theologian, award-winning author and mentor to pastors and leaders. Until the trajectory of his life changed through his mother’s prayers, Victor Torres was a heroin addict and gang warlord on the mean streets of Brooklyn. Through the ministry of David Wilkerson and Nicky Cruz, Victor had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ and came to realize that God had a purpose for his life. Now he lives to prepare others for theirs. For over five decades, Victor has been recognized as a contemporary father of the faith, traveling to more than 30 countries, carrying a Spirit-led awareness of people’s needs. Through Christ-centered, biblically-based principles, Torres uses his global influence to reach hundreds of thousands through podcasts, radio, television, street ministry and worldwide crusades. Dr. Torres is the founder and lead pastor of New Life Outreach Church in Richmond, Virginia, a thriving multi-cultural, interdenominational church with ministries in Brazil, Dominican Republic, Peru and Africa. Torres is also founder of New Life for Adults and Youth, one of the largest and most respected addiction recovery organizations in the country, helping transform hundreds of thousands of lives. Victor and Carmen, his partner in life and ministry, have four grown children and eleven grandchildren.
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