Trust Him At All Times

When there’s a problem, don’t you wish you’d always run to God?

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. That is the ideal, isn’t it? It’s a goal. If there’s a problem or a need arises, whether it’s the terror of a tragic accident, or something as simple as losing your keys somewhere in the house – wouldn’t it be great if your first impulse, your first response, would be faith and trust in God? Immediately turning to him in prayer, automatically. Not something that you think you would do as a last recourse, like, “Well, I guess there’s nothing else we can do about it now but pray.” You know, why are we so prone to turn to God, to trust and have faith in him, only after the fact? You know, it’s why the Bible tells us in Psalm 62, “Trust in him at all times, oh people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

I think the goal here, God’s goal for us, is that we make faith in him a habit. That we not show faith in him on occasion, but at all times; that we trust in him every time a need arises. Most of us, myself included, have been walking with Christ for a while. And yes, our faith has grown; it’s been refined through our trials. It’s been strengthened through testing. So, yes, for us, faith has been a long, hard lesson. But whether or not we have learned the lesson – you know to have faith in God at all times – the proof of that lesson is the ease with which we apply it. If we have to constantly stop and say to ourselves, “Wow, this problem is pretty big; it’s really, really out of my hands and, gee, I’m not sure if I can trust God with this; I’ll have to think about it.” You know, if we have to make that conscious effort to muster faith in Christ, that shows the measure of how weak our faith is.

Percy Ainsworth once said, “When faith has become a spontaneity of our character, when it turns to God instinctively, when it does its work with the instant response of habit, then it has become strong. Only faith that can trust at all times can trust at any time. The moment that faith [in God] heeds the dictation of a circumstance, it ceases to be faith and becomes calculation. Faith does more than hold a man’s hand in the darkness; it leads him into the light. Faith in Christ does not make [a hard] experience merely bearable, it makes it luminous and instructive. Faith takes the separate or the tangled strands of human experience and weaves them into one strong cable of help and hope.”

Oh, friend, to have this sort of faith that Percy Ainsworth describes. To not pause when suffering encroaches and think, “Oh, gee, can I trust God with this?” To not be calculating like that, but for it to be a spontaneous part of our Christian character. It’s why the Bible drives home time and again the idea that we are to trust God at all times. Not when it’s just convenient, or when it makes sense, or when it’s easy; but that we would run to God as our refuge always and always. A thing is not of any use to you if you cannot find it; if you reach for it and it’s not there. Friend, when you trust God at all times, your faith is easily found. You can reach for it and it’s there, ready to believe and yield; ready to trust and celebrate the God who gifts you with such amazing faith. It happens when we make it a practice to trust God at all times. And to close with one more word from Percy Ainsworth: “Trust in God through every hour, and when that perilous hour comes, one step shall take you into the innermost safety of God, your refuge.” And that, my friend, is today’s hope in your hardship.

© Joni and Friends

A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt

In this 14-page pamphlet, Joni helps you cultivate a grateful heart by looking at the wisdom of Scripture. This pamphlet addresses questions like: How can I really give thanks for all things? How can I cultivate a grateful spirit? How is it possible to “Rejoice in the Lord always”?

Today’s Gift