Devotional Steps...Step Three

Trusting God

Bible Reading: Numbers 23:18-24

18 This was the message Balaam delivered: “Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

20 Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

21 No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the LORD their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.

22 God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

23 No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel. For now it will be said of Jacob, ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’

24 These people rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered!” 

 ~Numbers 23:18-24

                           

We made a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God.

It is not uncommon to link our perceptions about God to our childhood experience with people who played powerful roles in our life. If we have been victimized in the past by people who were capricious, abusive, distant, uncaring, or incompetent, we may now anticipate these qualities in God.

 

Just because God is a power greater than we are and the people who victimized us represented a power greater than we were, we must not conclude that God will harm us if we entrust our life to Him. Jesus tells us that he didn't entrust himself to men because he knew what was in their hearts. Nevertheless, he voluntarily turned his life over to the will of God the Father. "It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people" (Psalm 118:8).

 

We may have learned in the past that putting confidence in people brings only pain and disappointment. We can't let this keep us from ever trusting again. In working through Step Three we can make a healthy decision to turn our will and our life over to the only one who is wothy of being trusted. The Bible tells us, "God is not a man, that he should lie. He is not a human, that he should change his mind" (Numbers 13:5). And God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

 

We know that we can't make it all alone. But now we can stop being the victim. WE can turn our life over to Someone who is really able to care for our needs.