Do You Trust Me?

Why does this seem to be the scariest question that one can ask? Remember on Aladdin, when Aladdin wanted Jasmine to jump out of the window with him? What did he ask her? "Do you trust me?" You can always be sure that when someone asks this question, it implies that there is something around the corner that will possibly shake your world, or maybe even kill you.

Throughout scripture, the Lord constantly asked this very question:

• Abram was asked to leave his comfortable land to a place unknown

• Moses was asked to become a public speaker and leader

• Gideon was asked to fight against thousands of men with only a few hundred soldiers

• King David was asked to walk away from his kingdom

• Jeremiah was asked to prophesy a message of destruction

• Mary, as a teenager, was asked to carry the Son of God

• Peter was asked to walk away from his family business

• Paul was asked to stand up against the very system he fought for

Every time the Lord asked one of these people to follow Him, what He was truly asking was, "DO YOU TRUST ME?"

There is a story that I found years ago that the Lord keeps bringing me back to during this season of my life.

There was a man that was out mountain climbing and rappelling down the side of a mountain with a 500-foot drop. As he was on his way down, part of his climbing gear snapped and he found himself at the end of his rope, hanging on for dear life. He then begin calling out to his maker. "Lord, if you save me, then I will do anything you want. Please help! Just tell me what to do. I will do anything!" Then the Lord spoke up. "Do you trust me?" The man replied to the

Lord, "Of course I trust you. Now will you please save me! I will do anything." The Lord then shared with the man this great plan to save him from his predicament. "If you want to be saved, you just have to do one thing." "What is it?" the man cried out in desperation. "Let go of the rope."

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? I am finding that I do not always understand, or even like God's plans. They seem to ask me to trust in an ending I can't see, and in a process that will probably bring pain before there is completion.

This last week, the Lord kept bringing me back to 

1 Peter, chapter 1.

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

At first glance, this scripture made me smile because of the mercy and hope that is promised. There is an inheritance spoken of that can not spoil or fade. And, ooh, did you read where the almighty God has a great big shield where He will protect us all until we get there? It even speaks of the salvation of our souls. What can be wrong with a chapter that speaks of so many wonderful promises?

It is the part about being refined by the fire and being proved genuine that causes my distress. It is the part of the plan that takes place between the present time and the time when we reach heaven. You see, there have been no promises of an easy, stress-free life offered in scripture. The Bible is very clear that the Lord disciplines those He loves.

Discipline does not always equal punishment. If you were to learn the discipline of silence, it would mean that you have practiced being silent enough that you are able to keep your mouth shut even when it goes against the very nature of what you want to do. The Lord is teaching us to discipline our minds and hearts. The only process that works for us broken, prideful, arrogant humans, is the crucible. The crucible is a vessel that is placed into very hot temperatures and used to melt elements that are placed inside. We must be thrown into the fire from time to time to keep our hearts and minds from wandering astray.

I was reading out of the book of Job with my wife the other day. With each new trial and devastation that came into Job's life, it seemed that God was asking the question, "Do you trust me?" After the first bit of news, I could imagine Job crying out to His maker but remaining as strong in his faith as before. However, after 3 more messengers came, each carrying their own stories of devastation, I would think Job would be very tired of this horrible question.

And yet right now, this also seems to be the question that God is asking me. I would like to be holy and pure and tell you that my faith has remained perfectly strong, and that I trust my God implicitly, but that would be a lie. Walking through the storms the Lord has allowed in life can be very grueling and pain-staking. But I have found that at my weakest moments, when I am ready to throw in the towel, the Lord finds a way to speak hope and peace into my heart, and I am then able to take that next necessary step.

5 Ways You Can Test Your Level of Trust in God

1. Forgive

Allowing the Lord to deal with those who have wounded us, in His time and in His way, is one of the most difficult things for us to do. But if we dwell on the trespasses against us and take matters into our own hands, then we are pushing God aside and pretty much telling Him that we do not trust Him. Believe me, it would be so beautiful if every time someone brought pain and injury into my life, there was this fantastic little button that brought great retribution--a Torture Button! Now don't act like you wouldn't want one of these buttons! But there is only one problem. We would all walk around torturing each other because we have all hurt, offended and maimed one another. Forgiveness is truly the only option.

2. Be Kind To Your Enemy

In the Christian culture of today we do not really call "people" our enemies. We call situations "bad," there are people who "hurt" us, but the only enemy we refer to is Satan and his minions. There is a lot of truth to the concept of people not being our enemy and Satan being the only true nemesis. But Satan is not our only enemy and at times our enemies seem to be living and breathing people. This is why the Lord admonishes us to love our enemies. If Satan was our only enemy then the Lord would not have asked us to love him. 

King David struggled with this. He prayed constantly for help with those enemies that surrounded him:

Psalm 27:5-7

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.

So how do we love our enemies? We pray for them, and commit them to the Lord. Like it or not that person is a child of God and He has a great plan for them. Just like He has a great plan for us.

3. Give Away Your Money

It is always interesting to see where my heart is when it comes to the idea of trusting the Lord with my finances. As most of you know, we have recently gone through some major changes with employment. Needless to say the amount of money that is coming into our checking account is pretty much as low as when we were in college (and that is scary). It would be so easy for me to somehow talk myself into all of the reasons that God and those people surrounding us do not need our money as much as we do. However, the truth of it is that we can not afford to stop giving. Not only do God's promises flow through a giving heart, but it is one of the most crucial ways to keep our hearts soft and our eyes focused on God's plan.

4. Serve More Than You Are Being Served

This goes against everything the world teaches and most songs that are being sung. We are told to take care of ourselves and that we are #1. But the Bible makes it very clear that it is the last who will be first. When we serve instead of waiting to be served, we have created an opportunity for the Lord to step in and show His grace in our lives.

5. Follow What You Hear And Not What You See

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to participate in my first Ropes Course. A Ropes Course is an obstacle course that is designed to teach you about yourself by having you take part in group activities that challenge your ability to trust, to communicate, to follow, etc. On one of the days, they had us blindfolded and expected us to walk on the top of an obstacle course made out of wooden stumps that were about 4 feet off the ground. The leader of this event assigned us a guide that was not blindfolded, and we were told to follow their direction as we walked on the top of these stumps. There were a few problems with this particular scenario. First, I did not have a chance to even see what these stumps looked like, so I was forced to completely trust whatever was being told to me. Second was the fact that I did not know who this person was that was giving me direction. I did not know his name and I sure did not trust him with my life. So the challenge began. You would think that I could just follow the directions that were given, right? But no, not me. Even with me being blindfolded, I somehow thought I was better qualified to decide where to step. But the truth of the matter is I almost fell off of the course every time, until I gave in and just listened to the person leading me. Sadly, this is a lesson I am still trying learn. I need to accept that the Lord is the only one who truly can see what is going on, and I need to not only focus on hearing His voice, but also focus on trusting what He is asking of me.

The Lord's question:

"Do you trust me?"

My response:

"Lord I want to say YES! I want to say that no matter what happens I will trust you and will let go of the rope. But I am finding that there is a war going inside of my mind and heart. There are times that my faith is lacking and I want to grab onto to the nearest solid-looking foundation. Please help my unbelief."

What will your response be?