Persistent Faith Is Rooted In Trust

Trust was a hard lesson for me. I remember as a child hearing a message on trust. The benefits were great. Afterwards I asked the speaker how to trust the Lord. He patted me on my head and said, “Marilyn, you just trust the Lord.” 

Years of many trials were my teachers. Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” Verse 92 says, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.”

I want to zero in on Job. Do you remember when he bitterly regretted the day of his birth? Job 10:18 says, “Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!”

It reminds me of Jeremiah’s visit to the potter. Jeremiah 18:4 says, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.”

Job was marred by his trial. Paul might have picked up on Jeremiah’s visit when he wrote Romans 9:20. It says, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this?”

When Job was frustrated with his three friends (miserable comforters), he made an emphatic statement. Job 19:23 says, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!” What insights would have been lost to us had God not recorded Job’s trial!

It was through Job’s trial that he learned to trust God in a new way.

Thursday evening I named my bird Persy, short for persistent. Another verse came to mind. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Ask, seek, and knock are three Greek imperative words. They are in the present tense, meaning that it is continual asking, seeking, and knocking. I asked the Lord why Persy was so persistent to get my attention, but would fly away as soon as it saw me? (it’s a young mockingbird)

James 4:8 came to mind. It says, “Draw near to God and He will  draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your  hearts, you double-minded.” Persy is an object lesson in being double-minded. My bird pecks for my attention (one mind) but flies away as soon as it gains my attention (another mind).

It reminds me of one who emotionally beckons with one hand, and when that person starts to move towards them, they put up the other hand to stop them. Pull then push exhibits double-mindedness. Personal application of James 1:8 indicates that emotional baggage makes us unstable.

Let’s apply Persy’s behavior to our relationship with the Lord. If He is our Life-Line, then we will draw near to Him at all times. He is Ever Present in our times of need. However He seeks our hearts to draw near just to be near.

Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the  shadow of the Almighty.” John 15:7 in the Amplified calls that, “…abide vitally united to Me…” Persy wants my attention but will not submit to abiding which requires full trust.

On Tuesday I kept hearing a noise. It sounded somewhat like someone throwing an object onto a pile. When I opened my west window to investigate it would stop. After doing this several times, I slowly walked to my bedroom doorway and peeked in. There on the bar that holds up my awning was a little bird. It would fly from the bar up against my window and peck it with its beak. Over and over. 

When I approached it would fly away. In the afternoon I pulled the shade on the west window to keep out the heat. It flew to my south window. It would cling to the screen, then fly to the window and repeat its beak pecking actions. I began to think that the Lord must be wanting to tell me something.

At 7:15 Wednesday morning the bird began again. All day the same pattern as the day before. Thursday morning at 7:00 I turned on my bedroom light to get my jacket so I could go outside and walk. It instantly came to my window and started pecking. The shades were still down, but it knew that I was near.

I asked my ongoing question: Lord, what are You wanting to say to me? The parable of the persistent widow came to mind. I looked up Luke 18:7-8 in the Amplified. Here is what it says. “And will not (our just) God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf?…when the Son of Man comes, will He find (persistence in) faith on the earth?”

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We exemplify the Lord through our conduct. I have to ask myself: is my heart content because I have the assurance the Lord is always with me?

I wonder if our discontent stems from living in the fears of our past or worries in what might happen in the future. Why else would the writer link conduct, contentment, and the assurance that He will never leave us? Honestly, I have not thought about this three-way connection before.

Covetousness is based on what we perceive as lack in our present. It’s another lie of the enemy. Paul declared that he had to learn to be content (Philippians 4:12). Learning often entails trial and error. It is a process.

Psalm 34:10 says, “…those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

When fears assail your mind, lean hard on His grace. Memorize Scripture with the intent of hiding His word in your heart. Think of it like wallpaper. Here is a great one to start with~just the first phrase.

Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you…” Meditate on what this really means to you. Every breath, every thought, every silent cry of your heart is known and noted by the Lord. He is IN you. You are never alone.

My friend went to work one morning. He had his chef’s apron and hat on as he walked into the workroom. A coworker said, “Hi Jim, how are you?” He replied, “I’m just fine.” Then he dropped to his knees and died. He had a massive aneurysm. We have no guarantee of our next minute.

Trust lives in the present moment in His Presence. Fears, regrets, worries, doubts, and unbeliefs are hidden dross in our faith. Our hope is eternal. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

His Presence is with us moment by moment, because He dwells within us. Hebrews 6:19 says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”

We breathe in His Presence with every breath. Jeremiah 23:24 says, “…Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.” He is Infinite, and has no boundaries. As His children, we have the privilege to come anytime and be still in His Presence, bask in His love, and partake of His manifold nature.

Here are David’s words. May they be the echo in our hearts as well. Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

This morning the Holy Spirit brought a picture into my mind. It was from the book, “Gulliver’s Travels” that I saw as a child. The only part I remember was of a giant of a man. He had been bound by an army of little people, with what looked like threads.

Then these words came, and I got up to write them in my notebook. Don’t let the fears from your past hold you down. They are only ‘threads of fear’ that you have entertained in your mind. Well that certainly gives us great perspective.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he…” If we think that the fears from our past are still binding us~they are. Fears that we entertain in our mind from our past is an insider enemy stronghold.

I was fixing my lunch and thinking about this devotional. In my mind I heard, “Stop the rehearsal, the main actor is missing.” This can go in myriad directions, but I’m addressing it in context to our past. Each time we rehearse something from our past in our mind, we are leaving out the present.

We cannot focus on the past and the present at the same time. One excludes the other. Five minutes ago is now our past. Five minutes ahead of us is the future. Only the Lord knows what that holds.

“Through It All” was written by Andre Crouch. He declared that it was his trials that came to make him strong, and caused him to depend upon God’s word. The talents that the Lord gave us to invest for Him, will be refined through every situation in our lives.

We miss that truth when we keep looking back to our fears based on our past. Dwelling in that fear, instead of the stillness of trust, we hid our talents. Lot’s wife looked back and remained a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

Jesus’ words in Luke 9:62 need to ring in our ears every time we start to entertain negative thoughts from our past. It says, “…No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

We cannot plow a straight furrow while looking back at the same time. Endurance requires our thoughts, purpose, and actions to be fixed on the Lord. Years ago I was called to the ER to pray for a friend. Her heart had stopped in flight from Lake Tahoe to Reno. 

When I arrived they were starting to put a picc line into her heart. There were machinery noises, lights blinking, and a scurry of folks moving around. My friend’s eyes were fixed. Nothing affected her. The Lord spoke this to my heart: that is what I mean when I say to you to fix your eyes on Me~don’t let anything distract you.

Hebrews 10:35 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” What talent has the Lord given you that you have hidden because of your fears based on the past?

You can read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14:29. The talent-gifts the Lord has given each one of us are for investment in His Kingdom. Two servants in Jesus’ parable were commended because of their investments. 

The servant who hid his talent was called wicked and lazy. The talent that he had was taken from him. Verse 28 says, “Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.”

Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” Ephesians 1:11 says, “…being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

The things that have happened in our past, are part of His purpose. In that purpose, like with Joseph, the Lord will use our adversities as His training tools to mold us and shape us to fulfill His purpose for our lives.

The enemy of our soul wants to use every thing that we might consider negative as his tool to defeat God’s purpose in our lives. 2 Corinthians stated an absolute truth that we can stand in.

It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Our past is passed. We cannot go back and change one thought, nor one action that we took or that others took. Solid, irrefutable, and unchangeable truth that we need to acknowledge.

Again I want to go to a reference in Psalm 105 about Joseph. Verse 18-19 says, “They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

This gives heart-significance to the trials that I am in and have been through. They are essential components in His training me for the ministry He has called me to. It is also a great definition of our progressive sanctification.

The operative word is progressive. It has a beginning, and a progression that leads to the end God has intended. James 5:11 says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and see the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

I have noticed in my years of counseling that folks tend to hide their talent-gifts because of lingering fears generated from their pasts. Matthew 25:25 documents the root for us. The servant who hid his talent said, “And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground…”

The talent-gifts that the Lord gives each of us to invest for Him, are part of our spiritual DNA. They are the good works in Ephesians 2:10 which says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”    

As I stepped onto my trampoline this morning, I looked at my parent’s pictures. I thanked the Lord again for them, but it continued in my mind. I want to share this with you as an example, and encourage you to thank the Lord for your own life~good, bad, and ugly.

Father God, thank You for all the myriad events You orchestrated in my life. You have been in charge from the moment You placed my tiny seed of conception into my mother’s womb until now. Nothing has taken place except what You preordained to happen.

Everything has been essential and strategic ~ the sum total of who I am today. Not one nuance of rejection nor any traumatic event has been in vain. The hardships and pressures always came through Your loving hands. They were absolutely essential to fulfill Your purpose for my life.

In my lack of understanding, I have not always been grateful. My hidden rebellion resisted Your work time and time again. I marvel now at Your grace, mercy, unending love, and patience. Thank You for Your forgiveness. I have often sinned against You through my evil heart of unbelief. Thank You for eternally separating me from my sins~as far as the east is from the west.

Thank You for being the Perfect One~filling in where others failed to exemplify You. Their sins crushed my spirit, and I allowed resentment seeds to flourish. Thank You for setting me free from years of self-hatred and self-rejection. Jesus’ shed blood has cleansed me from the stain of all sins done against me, as well as my own. Lord Jesus, I am grateful beyond words. My life is truly Yours.