Called To Trust

 Read Numbers 13:17-14:45

If the majority of us are honest, we will admit that it is hard to trust anything anymore.  Whether it be news outlets or even our closest friends, it seems that it’s really hard to place our trust in anyone or anything at this point and time.  One of God’s promises that our sins will find us out has rang true and because of it the world is facing the consequence of being distrusting with each other.  Lies and deceit have been exposed and now it’s hard for us to know where to place our trust or if we should even trust again.

For the Christian though, we should know there is always one that we can always trust in.  God.  

God has always been faithful in all of His promises and in all of our life.

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Look at today’s theme story.  God has just delivered the people of Israel out of 400 years of hard bondage and slavery in Egypt.  Originally when the Hebrew people settled in the land of Goshen it was a peaceful and prosperous time for them.  Joseph was setup as the magistrate of Egypt and had equal power as Pharaoh.  The current Pharaoh had appreciated and loved Joseph so much that he gave the whole land of Goshen as a place for Joseph’s family and the Hebrew nation to settle as relief from the global famine that was plaguing the world at the time.  It was a good time for the nation of Israel.  However, as most things, time gave way and people forgot the good works of Joseph.  New Pharaoh’s became evil of heart, not serving the one true God but going to what we know of today as the polytheistic worship of the Egyptians.  The Egyptians elevated themselves as being just one step below a god and other nations were to be subdued under them, including the Hebrews.  They threw the nation of Israel into hard slavery.  For 400 years they did this!  Some may ask, if this was God’s people that He loved so much, why did He allow this to happen for such a long time?  Again, many of us forget the grand scope of things.  God sees the whole picture and we must understand that time with us is very different with God.  God was setting up His people and history itself to reveal the true strength of the one true God.  After the 400 years of slavery, the nation of Israel saw the mighty hand of God by His anointing of Moses as their leader, the power He showed with the 10 plagues upon Egypt, the presence of the Lord in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the splitting of the Red Sea (which was the actual Red Sea and not just a small crossing, a small crossing couldn’t have drowned all of Pharaoh’s army), the feeding of manna, the miraculous production of water, the giving of the law, and many, many miracles in the travels to the promise land.  

However, even after all of these miracles, right before God is about to bring them into the land that He promised, Israel still did not trust God.  God told them and showed them that they would protect them and be with them at all times.  However, when spies reported that there were giants in the land, 10 of the 12 stated that they shouldn’t go because the giants were too great.  The people of Israel didn’t trust the Lord, so they received the consequence of not trusting in God.  They had to wander in the wilderness for 40 more years!  Only Joshua and Caleb believed in the Lord.  Caleb said in verse 30,

 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Caleb placed his faith and trust in the Lord.  The people of Israel did not and because of that, they faced the horrible consequence and was not able to enjoy the reward of God.

I wonder how many rewards and gifts from God we miss out on because we don’t simply trust Him?

How many times has God spoken to your heart about something and you talk yourself out of it?

You make excuses for yourself saying, “I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough, I don’t have enough money or resources...etc”  

God wants us to fully trust Him and when He tells us to move on something, we need to move without fear.  God commanded us in Matthew 28 to take the gospel out into all nations.  We rarely hear it in today’s streets.  Why?  Because we don’t place our trust in God that He will give us the strength and wisdom to spread His Word.  Churches every day across this nation are struggling to make ends meet and even keep their doors open.  Why?  Because the leadership and the people of the church are not placing their full trust in God.

You know this is a free devotional.  I don’t make a red cent off of any of this, so you know me bringing up this point has nothing to do with personal gain.  Also, for those of you who don’t know, I’m currently not in any type of church leadership position at the moment.  I’m on a Sabbatical, so in no way is the following statement going to be anything for self gain.

Are you faithful in tithing?  Are you faithful in giving the firstfruits unto God, like He has asked us to do?  No?  The main reason why many of us, including myself in the past, have refused to tithe faithfully and give unto God is honestly down to an issue of trust and belief.  We see what we physically have and what we know is physically coming up and it’s hard for us to believe that God will actually come through and provide us with not only our needs but He will bless us even more. 

Guess what Christian, the promise that God made is true.  Now, I’m not going to be telling you that you will be some type of millionaire and get everything you ever dream of like some of these false teachers out there, but I am going to tell you that God will keep His promise of taking care of you and your needs.  

I stepped out on faith in doing this recently in my life.  During a time where there is so much financial uncertainty and God continues to show His mercy and His grace.  

Now, what happens if things will get tough?  Will I stop?  The human heart of me is there and the temptation to “take control” will always be there, but if I’m fully placing my trust in God and what to receive His promises, I will keep going.  

God will direct us, God will protect us, God will provide for us, God will bless us.  We must simply trust Him.

God wants us to trust Him and trust Him fully.  In closing remember these great words from Proverbs 3:5-6.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.