It can be valuable to take some time to come up with a word to focus your thoughts and actions in the new year. What is your 2020 word for the year? I have actually come up with two words to guide me in 2020 – Trust and Surrender. I’m going to initially focus my energy towards trust as I don’t believe you can fully surrender until you have a strong foundation of trust.
So, what exactly is trust?
Trust is defined as firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Trusting God means that you believe that He loves you, will provide for you and is good.
I have spent too much of my life trusting in myself and in other people. We are all human and inevitably will break trust from time to time. And I think it’s been confirmed that I’m a hot mess, so trusting in myself is probably not the best idea. if I’m being honest, there are times where I don’t trust God as much as I should and turn to my own devices to try to fix or problem-prevent situations that aren’t necessarily mine to get involved in. In fact, this happens quite a lot. Instead of trusting God who has promised to be faithful to me, I trust in my own ability to guide and navigate circumstances. Of course, this rarely ends well. I usually end up feeling anxious and burdened, and sometimes harm relationships in the process.
I wonder how drastically our lives would change if we completely trusted God with everything? I bet that many of our mistakes and problems would be avoided and that our hopes and dreams would be realized more quickly and fully. Instead we often grow impatient and opt for plan B (like I often do) which will inevitably let us down.
Below is one of the Scriptures that I am going to try to live by in 2020.
Here are some things that can help to increase our trust in God over the coming year.
Make a Habit of Connecting with God
We can only grow in trust with a God we come to know. Making connecting with God a habit is the perfect way to learn how to trust God more. Research has revealed that it takes 66 days to create a habit. Incorporate God into your daily routine by spending time with him, journaling, and attending church. Give him credit for the blessings in your life.
Trust in His Wisdom and Timing
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33
God knows best. Who are we to even think that we can take it upon ourselves to do a better job than Him in guiding our lives and circumstances? Or to trust other people to do the same? But we must remember that His timing is usually very different than ours. Many of us have spent a lot of time waiting on unanswered prayers. It’s easy to lose trust when you’ve been waiting for healing, a spouse, a child, a better job or financial security. But there is always a reason for God’s delay. We have to trust that His plan is still underway, even when we don’t see evidence or feel like He is listening.
Pray!
Surrendering to God begins with our lips and our thoughts. We need more than a commitment to depend on Him; we need to cry out to Him to show that dependence.
When we pray, we admit that His ways are higher than ours. We show that we’re leaving our troubles, burdens, and desires in His capable hands – instead of our grabby, faltering ones.
Psalm 55:17 promises that when we reach out to Him, he hears us.
“Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”
Remind Yourself of God’s Past Faithfulness
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
This verse reminds us that God is absolutely unchanging. If He never changes, and has been faithful to you in the past, then you can trust that he will be faithful in the future. Whenever you feel trust starting to fade, remind yourself of all the ways God has come through for you in the past. Even if he didn’t come through in the way you thought he would, it’s likely that He came through in a bigger and better way.
Just today, I saw this in one of my favorite devotions, Jesus Calling. Here is an excerpt:
I want you to learn a new habit. Try saying, “I trust you Jesus” in response to whatever happens to you. This simple practice will help you see Me in every situation, acknowledging my sovereign control over the universe. When you view events from this perspective – through the light of my eternal presence – fear loses its grip on you.
The Scriptures below will help to confirm that we can trust God! I am going to keep them close over the coming weeks.
- “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge“. Ruth 2:12
- “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge”. 2 Samuel 22:3
- “…He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him”. 1 Chronicles 5:20
- “…Blessed are all who take refuge in him”. Psalm 2:12
- “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him“. Jeremiah 17:7
- “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you”. Psalm 9:10
