Daring to Trust God!

|”And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10|

A times, I really feel like giving up on some things when I do not see any progress but a challenge comes and I am back on track. It’s hard to give up on God even on the slightest occurrences. Has anyone dared to trust God in the slimmest of all hopes? I have and I have never been disappointed. Many times we trust God for some things, make some prayers that seem not to have reached God and thus we are so discouraged and down... David says in Psalm 42:11 "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

We need to realize that when we trust in God, we need to relax and wait on him... and while we are waiting, we ought not to be complaining but rather giving thanks. But woe unto us human beings, we know better how to complain rather than give thanks or praise. I must say we got  a Masters Degree in that! I want to challenge someone this Today:- "Will you dare trust God again even when you feel like he is quiet and seems he never heard your prayers? You can trust him regardless.

Many a times we think that since God did for me this and this and now am not in any problem, I don’t have the problem to seek out for him now; but Solomon challenges us not to lean on our own understanding – (Proverbs 3:5). When you put out your own understanding before God, you are destined to fail. Remember the bible says that the hand of flesh will fail us but God never fails. Isaiah 31:1 says “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!”

When God delays to answer, we are quick to turn back to our Plan B’s which fail us. Do we have to be hurt, broken and pass thru' painful experiences for us to learn to trust God no matter what? Sometimes we sacrifice our eternal joy, pleasure and peace for something that will last for a few minutes, hours, days, months or even years (As per our projections) not knowing that God has promised us WEALTH and RICHES untold. Have you taken time to count your blessings that God has done for you when you trusted him? Too bad that some of us trust God when we have no other option - I mean when all has failed us, that’s when we can dare trust God coz we have nowhere else to go… Shame on you! You ought to trust God in and out of season

In (Daniel 3:16-18), we see three men who dared to trust God despite the circumstances that were surrounding them. You see, there is one thing here… They could have opted to bow down before the Kings image and have their lives spared... but then lose what God had in store for them; but they had a DARING FAITH. They told God, we are daring you to fail us; we are putting our lives at stake. See this. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary for us to answer you on this point. If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up!” (Daniel 3:16-18), That’s the answer that they gave the king. Can you stand with such faith when you are facing trials and a hard and tough terrain in your Christian Life and trust in God is such a manner?

oh my!!!... I feel this.. Look at Esther in Esther 3:16 says that “I will fast and then go to see the king even though it’s against the law, if I perish I perish.” One thing that you ought to know is that the devil is not happy when you prosper. The higher God lifts you, the more fierce the battle to fight becomes. An in this case, Haman was not happy to see Mordecai sitting at the Palace gate and he wasn’t bowing down unto him as the others were doing. You need to know that some people will be affected by your actions, your integrity, character and faith. The plot to kill the children of Israel came up not because they had done anything, but it was because of Mordecai. As a child of God, when you stand and take your place, you need to know that you cause a lot of harm to the devil’s camp because you are a stumbling block to many of his plans. You act as a barrier prevailing over his plans.

God will always place you strategically in places where you will have an upper hand over the enemy. Haman didn’t know that Mordecai was the uncle to Queen Esther. But because god knew what the enemy was plotting, He made sure that He had placed Esther at the right place so that she could act and thwart the plan of the enemy. It is at this point that we see Esther saying that she will go and see the king against the rules of the kingdom if she looses her life, well and good.

Look at these two scenarios; Remember at the back of your mind that some lives are at stake. Someone can lose his/her life here but they are not afraid. There are some things that will demand you to put your life at stake and act on your faith. People say that the line between Faith and foolishness is very thin but I would rather have faith rather than be foolish yet have nothing to hold on and be proud of later. If the three Jewish boys didn’t risk their lives to be thrown in the fiery furnace, God would not have been glorified in Babylon... I like this!! If Esther had not heeded the call of Mordecai his uncle and risked her life to go before the King, the nation of Israel would have been killed then; but they had the DARING FAITH to put their lives at stake and trust God beyond all odds.

I want you to know this morning that "Trusting in God pays a great deal rather than depending on your own strength." These two set of instances are an encouragement to us. The outcome was a testimony that we still hold on to and they serve as an encouragement to you and me. Why don’t you trust God today and be an encouragement to someone? You can give a testimony and encourage someone to trust in God too and benefit.

I believe you will not only trust God alone for your needs but also trust him for your spiritual life and growth too. Do not seek his hand, but rather seek his face then he will show you his hand. I mean do not trust God because of what he can do, but trust him because of who He is then He will show you what he can do to and for you. Some of us we want to SEE what he can DO FIRST then we can TRUST. Let’s not become like Doubting Thomas. When you seek his hand, He will show you his hand but you will know him. You won’t know his face. We seek the blessings and not the Blesser; When you are sick, you need to be healed but you do not want to know the healer; You need PROVISION but you do not want to sit down and know the PROVIDER intimately.

Intimacy with the maker of heaven and earth; You are seeking LOVE. You want to be loved and you want to love back... I tell you today... Till you MEET and FALL in LOVE with the AUTHOR of LOVE who is God... You will mark time... You will jump from one relationship to another with no satisfaction because you will not get REAL LOVE and neither will you give REAL LOVE because you do not have a connection with the source of LOVE and you do not have that REAL LOVE to give out!! God is Love and if you have an encounter with Him, your life can never remain the same. Jacob had an encounter with God and he never remained the same; Saul on his way to Damascus met with God and his life took a turn… You too can be changed by him!

Bottom line... this is what the Spirit says...

• For you to DARE trust the Lord and put your life at stake.
• You got to have a deeper connection than that meets the eye!!

Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego & Esther were people who knew God beyond the physical; they connected deeper with the Lord. Get deeper and intimate with God and some things that you struggle with will come to an END…not just an END but will DIE... DARE to TRUST God again against all ODDS, not only when you got no other OPTION... Have and cultivate that DARING FAITH to dare God.

|“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”| Psalm 37:3-6

Be blessed!!

Shalom!