Trust in God

Some days, God just throws you a challenge.  I've had a handful of these challenges in the past - sometimes it's humility, sometimes forgiveness or sacrifice.  This week, it has been abandonment to Divine Providence.  Sacrifices are never wasted, but sometimes God chooses to redirect them in ways that you could never see coming.

Trust is hard.  I've had to relearn at times how to trust different people.  However, trust in God is a hard one to learn.  It seems to be something I've taken for granted until now, but I realize now that trust in God is more than just a placid acceptance of whatever comes my way.  Generally, if I can't change something, I just go with the flow; if it's something I can change, I generally try to, rather than ask what the will of God really is.  That's not really trust.

So what is real trust?  The Merriam-Webster dictionary has trust as "belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc."  So trust has to be rooted in faith.  It's because I believe in God as the all-good, all-true, all-powerful Creator and mover of all that I can place my trust in Him.  The act of trust is something that has to be made every day, every hour.  It's not just accepting what comes, but looking at everything that comes to us without questioning "How will this affect me?" but asking "Lord, how do you wish me to react to this?"  Sometimes, this means not asking why.  Trust means realizing that you're not in control of everything.  Trust means opening up your will to the will of God, and residing in Him, at peace.

When something happens that I can change, I need to ask God before I try to change it.  Maybe it's something He doesn't wish me to change, and He wants me to negate my own will even farther, by accepting that I must not change it even though I can.  For this choleric, that's a hard task to accept.  If there's something I can make 'better' (more like what I want it to be) then it follows in my instinct that I simply must improve it.  Now I have to learn to ask first, and accept the answer before I act.

When something happens that I can't change, I must ask what I should do with it.  Ignoring a situation, or rejoicing without gratitude - that lifestyle has to be modified.

First, gratitude for all the acts of God in my life, whether I see them at the moment as good or ill.  Second, love - love and knowledge of God in all His ineffable splendor.  Then, trust, abandonment of my own will, to accept the peace that comes from being a piece in the Divine jigsaw puzzle.  Peace doesn't come without trust.

I must take as my own the words of a song from Dreamworks' Joseph, King of Dreams.

If this has been a test,
I cannot see the reason.
But maybe knowing I don't know
Is part of getting through.

I try to do what's best,
And faith has made it easy,
To see the best thing I can do
Is put my trust in You.

For You know better than I,
You know the way.
I've let go the need the need to know why,
For You know better than I.

I saw one cloud
And thought it was the sky.
I saw a bird
And thought that I could follow.

But it was You
Who taught that bird to fly.
If I let You reach me,
Will You teach me?

For You know better than I,
You know the way.
I've let go the need to know why.
I'll take what answers You supply. . .
You know better than I.