Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. …”
The challenge of faith is trusting when I don’t understand it. It’s so much easier to lean on my own understanding than to trust God. Faith says, “Even if I don’t understand, I will trust in You.” It’s human nature to say, “I’ll trust when I understand it.” The sceptic says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” God says, “You won’t see it until you believe it.”
Mary is a great example of someone who was determined to trust God even when she couldn’t possibly understand it. Whoever heard of a virgin giving birth to a child, much less the Son of God! The Angel’s announcement to Mary before that first Christmas was as unbelievable as it was startling! The Angel told her:
Luke 1:30-33 “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name Him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. And He will reign over Israel forever; His Kingdom will never end!”
How would you respond to such news, ladies? Talk about trusting when you don’t understand it! I love Mary’s response because it shows us the simple child-like faith God is looking for when He asks us to trust Him. Mary said,
Luke 1:38 “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
Mary knew there was nothing she could do to bring this to pass apart from trusting that what God said He would do, He will do, in His time and in His way! Sometimes, when I sense God is saying something to me about what He wants to do in my life, I try to figure out ways to help Him out. Kind of like Abraham did when God promised him a son in his old age.
It’s hard to believe the impossible is possible until you consider how big and how great God really is! Nothing is impossible with God! Nothing is too difficult for Him! He delights in doing what we cannot do so that, at the end of the day, even the sceptics will have to give Him the credit!
What in your life are you trusting God for that you don’t understand? Delays often cause us to doubt and become dismayed. We wonder, Will God come through? Did I really hear from God? Take heart! The only response God is looking for is the one Mary gave.
Luke 1:38 “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
Just let God be God as only God can be, and He will do what He said He would do. We can rest in His promises and in His power. This is the peace God offers that passes understanding. God is teaching us to walk by faith and not by sight, to trust Him when we don’t understand it.