The Trusting Waypoint
Questions and doubts can sometimes plague or overwhelm me. Questions like “am I good enough?” “Is God good, and if He is, why is “x, y, or z” happening?” “Why doesn’t anything ever go my way?” I suppose there are people for whom completely trusting God 24/7 comes easily. I do have profound faith and trust in God! But sometimes, I struggle to trust or even say, “I trust You,” or my actions say, “I really trust myself.” I know from my work with leaders around the globe that this issue of questions and doubts is common. A Christ-follower’s trust in God is forged and renewed over time. It takes work and perseverance to deepen our trust and move us from the childlike trust we might have had as youths or new believers to a deeper trust that weathers the storms of life. David Benner says, “Although we may say we want to trust God and surrender to his will, deep down we doubt that God is really capable of securing our happiness.”
Our aim as leaders is to lead from a base of deep trust in God, where spiritual leadership emerges from that overflow.
Leaders in the global worker community are often very independent and have learned to rely on themselves, often falling into the trap of just trying harder when things don’t work. We need the Holy Spirit and the help of a wise mentor or coach to shine a light on self-deception and where our trust in God has waned. The enemy seeks to nurture lies and highlight the places in life where God has seemingly failed to respond and let the worker or others down. John Mark Comer says, “It’s a war on lies. And the problem is less that we tell lies and more that we live them; we let false narratives about reality into our bodies, and they wreak havoc in our souls.” We are often unaware of the lies we believe or become complacent and let them dominate our lives.
It’s vital to know who God is and who you are. Even Jesus received the affirmation of His Father’s love as a beloved son before He even started His ministry (Mt 5:17). You and I need that same affirmation. Many of us struggle to embrace the fact that God’s love for us is not based on what we do but simply on our adoption as His son or daughter. I try to read The Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen every year to help me embrace my identity as a beloved son. My memory leaks, so I need regular reminders, and I suspect you do too. Benner says, “The more I have the courage to meet God in this place of weakness the more I will know myself to be truly and deeply loved by God and the more deeply I know this love, the easier it will be to trust it as Christ did, preferring God's will to my own.” Trust is forged over a lifetime!
What are the lies you believe? Where have you seen yourself take control rather than trust God?
We like to leave you with a song at the end of each blog post, so today, we leave you with I Know by Big Daddy Weave to help you reflect on and verbalize your trust in God.
If you want to read to further deepen your trust in God. Check out one of these favorites.
