TRUST AND OBEY

Psalm 40:4 says, "Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust."

I have a little book entitled "Hope for Each Day" by Billy Graham. We actually picked it up at the church yardsale for next to nothing, and it has happened to be one of the best little treasures that I have ever stumbled upon. It has a verse and a 2 to 3 paragraph story for each day of the year. Nothing superduper fancy that sticks out about it at all on the outside, yet the words coming from within are powerful!! Example:

The most recent title is "Trust and Obey". What's the first thing that comes to your mind? For me, it's the hymn. I bet I have sung the words to that hymn 1000 times since I was little.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus.......but to trust and obey.

Such simple words, yet how many times do we fall on our faces because....
1.) we don't fully trust
2.) we don't obey

I love the story that is mentioned because it so applies to all of us. He talks about one day when his kids were little, someone gave his little boy a dollar. Upon first instincts, the boy says, "Here dad, hold this for me" and he runs off to play. A few minutes later he comes back and says, "Dad, I better keep my own dollar" and takes it back to put in his own pocket. Well we all know how this story is going to end because we have all probably done it before. The boy comes back with tears in his eyes and says "Dad, I lost my dollar. Can you help me find it?"

I say that we have all probably done this before, but how many of us are actually doing it right now in our lives at this present day? We say, Lord please handle this matter, and then when the Lord doesn't act in the timeframe that we want him to act in, we decide that we can take matters into our own hands. And I would say that everytime we end up like the little boy in the story, coming back to say "Lord, I messed it up. Can you help me because I am in trouble?!!?"

Obedience begins with a listening heart. If we are not pursuing God daily, how do we know what He is asking of us to be obedient about. How many times does God impress something upon our heart and we become too afraid or too lazy to act on it? Have you ever felt God telling you to move/act in a moment, a right then and there moment, and you feel yourself starting to sweat and your heart starts beating 90 miles an hour? It might be for you to go pray for someone or with someone. It might be a moment where you need to stand up and give a testimony right then and there. He might impress on your heart to call or email someone. It might be that you need to go ask for forgiveness or tell someone that they have hurt you, and you need them to know so you can forgive them and ask them to forgive you. These are just a few to throw out there, but God calls us to be obedient.

I pray that we will all be able trust God in all phases of our lives. To trust Him to protect, to trust Him to provide, to trust in the fact that He knows what's best for us and will always love us. So today is a call to trust and obey.