Onequestionthat a person may ask is, “ how do I define trust? “
Trust cannot be defined until we understand the concept of faith.
Why?
Both concepts involve the use of evidence.
Because we have seen evidence of God’s love, integrity, character, and history of being there for his people over and over again, we know that we can trust him to do what’s best for us, even when we don’t agree with his version of our best.
We have faith in who God is.
The Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen .
Trust is the by- product of having evidence through a person’s words and behaviors manifesting congruency that we can live a life of vulnerability and transparency with him/her.
Relationships with other people work the same way as they do with God.
Unlike God, people are imperfect. And so are we. They will disappoint us and we will disappoint them.
However, an assessment of the overall consistency of congruency in their words, character and behavior alignment, or the lack thereof, will help us to determine whether we can trust them or not.
For example, in healthy relationships, trust can be Reestablished after making bad choices because of Two people putting forth visible, Intentional, effort over a period of time .
However, when it comes to a toxic relationship, trust can never be established until the person who is toxic goes under a major heart and life change.
So, in essence, toxic relationships last because of a foundation of image or falseness, i. e. , false love, false trust, false hope, and false peace.
False love means Love is equated to abuse.
False trust means Trust is equated to false evidence.
False hope means Hope is equated to false promises and heart sickness .
False peace means peace is equated to the absence of conflict.
In order for any relationship to last, trust has to be at the very core of its foundation.
And in order for us to be able to stand against any situation that we face in life in general, Christ has to be our solid foundation.
As the old hymn goes, “ On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Stay tuned for our next post where we dive into more of an in-depth study on healing from narcissistic abuse.
I want to tell you the story of that beautiful case that I saw.
When my son was about 8 years old, I bought all the various computer parts to build him a desktop. I decided upon a royal blue clear case. These cases were all the rave at the time. You could see all the internal parts, and lights, etc. I knew at his age he would think this was cool.
The Struggle
The Manufacture of the case boasted “no white-gloves” needed. Wow! This was great. So I thought. The case should open with no problem. He was going to be jamming with this cool case. I pressed and pulled, huffed and puffed to get this case open. Nothing. Used tools ⚒️. Nothing. Finally, after getting my adrenaline going at full speed, I got the case to open. I was worn out.
The Truth
What they said, and the truth were two different things. After sitting there for a few minutes, I felt weird. Like really weird. I looked down at my hand, and the case had cut a chunk of the inside of my thumb off. Looking at it made me nauseous and light-headed. I went down to the kitchen to take care of it. The kids saw “that Look” on my face, as they call it, and they asked me what happened. I told them, and they were shocked.
The Healing
I decided to wrap the wound and bandage it up after using peroxide and Neosporin. My thumb only has a little bit of discoloration now. You can hardly tell how badly I got injured. It’s just a scar. Just so you know, I sent the case back and got another one instead.
Our Case
Some of you saw that one person’s profile. It looked good on paper. As a matter of fact, it sounded good. But, once you opened the package, you were in for a big surprise. You were cut so deep, that it left you wounded and bleeding out on everything and everyone.
Our Reaction
But, for some reason, you are still holding on to that case, without digging deeper into the how’s, why’s , etc. This person(case), will determine how you select all the others (friends, jobs, partners in ministry, etc.) until you deal with the wounds.
You don’t have to keep bleeding out on everyone. You can begin to dissect your cycle of unhealthy relationship patterns. Even better, you can get bandaged up ⬆️in the process. The question is: When will you make that choice?
Are you saying to yourself, “I’m sick and tired of being stuck in one unhealthy relationship after the next. Life should be better than this. This does not look like the abundant life that Christ promised us!” Then this course is for you. It walks you through the process step by step to getting out of the revolving door of stuckness, and into the door of abundant living. But when are you going to open the door? Are you waiting for your friend or someone else to open it for you? That’s what the Course Broken Pieces is all about. It walks you through with personalized videos, getting you to the heart of the matter. ****This is an amazon affiliate link where a commission is paid to offsite the cost of providing this information to you.
What is whole faith? Whole faith is the faith that you hold on to when you don’t have details of when, why, how, or where that the “what” you need to happen is going to happen. When we having been praying for something so long, it is very tempting to throw in the towel. It is easy to want to go according to what our feelings are telling us; that this thing that you want so badly is not going to happen.
Whole Faith says , “Lord, help my unbelief!” like the Father who cried out so very desperately for his son to be healed. He had been demon possessed since childhood. He didn’t know what else to do, nor what to say. The disciples had proven his point of dealing with an impossible situation when they couldn’t cast it out.
Whole Faith says, “Lord, here you go. You are in control.” We release the situation to God. We know that we have prayed enough, and we need to sit this thing at his precious feet. And lastly, whole faith says as Jesus did as he hung on the cross, “Thy will be done.”
What are some ways that you have had to exhibit whole faith in your life?
We are definitely living in uncertain times. During these times, it is important to keep ourselves anchored in God and his promises. It is also crucial to establish a creative outlet for ourselves, and our kids if they are still at home. Practicing self-care will help our souls and our ability to be resilient when everything around us is on shaky ground. This poem “Season of Uncertainty”, deals with our life as it is right now worldwide. I am currently reminded of God’s goodness as I type this because there are several birds singing their tunes right outside my kitchen window. To God be the glory! Blessings my friends!
Trusting God: How many of us have thought in our minds, or asked someone the question: “Do you trust me?” Have you ever stopped to think of God asking us this question? Tune in to Episode 53 and find out what happens when we trust God while we wait.
Outline for “Do you trust me?”
Introduction
Our MO when we trust God
My Trust Test
Photo by Nicole De Khors at Burst by Shopify
Meditation Verses
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Have you ever been embarrassed by a family member who may have commented as you were getting ready to leave out the door: “Are you wearing that? You should take off those clothes! Put something else on!” Of course, this is definitely a bold choice of words. However, have you ever stopped to consider God telling you that?
No, God doesn’t bash us. However, he does make suggestions that will benefit our good. He has miraculously saved us from the pit of hell, a life of sin and bondage, and all kinds of unimaginable things, but he sees that we still choose to wear the “grave clothes”. This is the point where we can imagine him screaming out: “Take off those clothes!”. It’s as if we still want to have a little bit of the old nature on us.
Dissection of the Clothes
What happens when we wear grave clothes? People can’t tell that we are Christians because we look, act, and talk like everyone else. We trade in the sweet fragrance of Christ, for the death smell of the grave that God has resurrected us from.
Why do we choose to do this? We won’t change our thinking so that our behavior can change as well. We are more comfortable with the stench of the grave clothes than walking in the newness of Christ.
So, how do we know that God’s desire is for us to shake loose from this putrid outfit? When Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus was bound in grave clothes. His first command was for them to take off those clothes:
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
We have all had trust issues at one time or another. These issues usually stem from experiencing hurt from the people that are closest to us. The poem “Opening the Trust Door” portrays a dialog that occurs between us and God. God is the only one that can heal our issues with trust. That is, if we invite him in.
There are a lot of voices that we hear on a daily basis. However, discerning the voice of God becomes the most important one that we need to focus on. Do we know what to look for? Is it the same voice for everyone? These questions and more will be answered in this week’s episode: Hearing God’s Voice in the Midst of Chaos.
Good afternoon! Welcome to Valley of Grace’s Healing Our Brokenness Podcast! Today we are on episode 18, entitled, Hearing God’s Voice in the Midst of Chaos. When we think about hearing God, we often associate it with the Ten Commandments movie where God spoke to Moses on the mountain. Sometimes God is just that powerful. However, often hearing God can come in the small, subtle, or least grand ways than we expect.
So, the question
that you all are probably asking is, “Well, if it is small, how will I know?”
We do three
things:
We slow down enough to hear him. If we aren’t slowed down enough, we won’t hear God, or gain clarity on anything else that is going on.
We pray and ask God to help us to become discerning in regard to noticing his voice.
WE look for God to speak to us in themes or patterns. This can be via sermons at church, small groups and bible studies, therapy, or via inner circle advice.
Part #2 Hearing God’s Voice
I have realized
for myself that God speaks to me through my work. Since I read and listen to a lot of blogs,
articles, podcasts, and sermons, God will have them to center around a certain
theme for me to understand that it is something that I need to work on.
Sometimes he
speaks to me in dreams to prepare me. I
have heard others say that God doesn’t speak to other people in dreams as in
biblical times. I beg to differ. God knows each and everyone of us by name, the
number of the strands of hair that is on our heads, and the names of all the stars. I believe that God will use whatever means
necessary for us to know that it is him.
A few years
ago, after going through a horrific divorce, I longed to see my dad who I hadn’t
been in contact with for a while. I
searched for him, and unfortunately, came to a dead end. About two weeks later, I had a dream that I
was with him on the bus in Chicago, and he was wearing the leather jacket that
he often wore when I was a kid. I looked
down at his shoes and pants, and I realized that he had the appearance of not
keeping himself up. So, in the dream, I pondered
over asking him if he was homeless, but I was afraid to ask. I woke up, wondering what this all
meant. Less than a week later, my dad
got on the bus that a family friend was driving, and he was able to connect
with my aunt who brought him to my house.
The sight of
him nearly made me fall to the ground.
He had indeed hit hard times and was homeless for a period of nine
months. God has given me a lot of
situations like this to speak to me.
In several
other instances, I thought that it was me being strong-willed/lazy in regard to
something that someone else wanted me to do with them. I am not a strong-willed person. However, I am human, and a sinner. And like all of us broken individuals, there
are things that we know that we should do, but don’t feel like doing, and we fuss
and go on and do it. I thought this was
the case in about three situations, then I realized my whole will had changed because
God was trying to tell me that it is something that I shouldn’t be doing.
It took a
while to see the pattern. They weren’t
bad things. They were things that I had already
dealt with in my healing. There was
literally a pulling in my chest, and a feeling in my spirit that said, “No! This is not for you.” I was surprised because one time I had
planned to write a certain devotion, and I felt God’s Spirit telling me, “No!”. I decided to write on a different topic that
night: Handpicked by God. As I was riding
in the car the following morning, I received confirmation that I made the right
choice by getting a 3-minute clip on a Bible Teacher’s message. It coincided with the new devotion. The words that came out of her mouth were
almost verbatim to what I had said in my devotion. I choked up with tears. What I thought was simplicity was God
exemplifying that he is a God of order.
God can also
have us to sense things in our spirit that something is wrong when we talk to
people. Their emotions and psychological
dysfunctions can enter our emotional, psychological, and spiritual space. Sometimes it takes a while to figure this out. We are usually able to detect this in
patterns after a while.
A few months
ago, I had the feeling that my confidence had been stripped away. This was due to the trauma and the cycle of
shame that revolved around it. Even if
there were things that I knew how to do, I would get afraid of not being able
to do them. This is indeed a problem
with trauma, where you can forget how to do certain things temporarily at any
point and time. However, it isn’t often
that it happens. And I realized just
recently, that Satan was using this fact to create low confidence in everything
that I did. Right around the time that
revelation hit, I had three different instances of God speaking to me in regard
to this confidence.
The first
one included a conversation with someone that I met who was able to discern
this. The second conversation was from
someone wishing me a happy birthday, and then stating that 2019 would be the year
of confidence for me. The third time was
reading a book, and having a specific chapter speak on self-confidence, the importance
of it, and how to lean into God’s love to get it. For some reason, I had never thought about
praying for confidence.
Here are
some Truths that we can meditate on when it comes to Hearing from God in the
Midst of Chaos
Being too busy will miss out on hearing God’s voice.
If we are limited to our way, we will miss out on hearing God’s voice.
The failure to act in obedience in the small window of time that God gives us in emergency situations may hinder us from hearing God’s voice.
When we fail to act on God’s instructions to share what he has placed in our heart with someone else, we miss the opportunity to bless someone.
When we fail to act on God’s instructions to share what he has placed in our heart with someone else, we also miss the opportunity of bringing possible correction or rebuke to that person on an issue that God was already trying to show them.
Part #3 Hearing God’s Voice
Samuel learned to identify God’s voice. And unfortunately, he had some sad news to give to Eli, who had neglected his duties as the person in charge of the temple in 1 Samuel 3:
And the child Samuel
ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in
those days; there
was no open vision.
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was
laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that
he could not see;
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where
the ark of God was,
and Samuel was laid down to
sleep;
That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am
I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went
and lay down.
And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went
to Eli, and said, Here am
I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down
again.
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the
LORD yet revealed unto him.
And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and
went to Eli, and said, Here am
I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the
child.
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if
he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So
Samuel went and lay down in his place.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times,
Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel,
at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
In that day I will perform against Eli all things
which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an
end.
For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the
iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he
restrained them not.
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the
iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for
ever.
And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the
house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered,
Here am I.
And he said, What is
the thing that the
LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it
not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me
of all the things that he said unto thee.
And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he
said, It is
the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of
his words fall to the ground.
And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
the LORD.
I have had situations where I felt God speaking to me about sharing with someone in regard to my own person struggles. However, I allowed my own shame, and the worry about other peoples’ perception of me get in the way of obedience. There have been other times that I was more afraid of ugly face crying and losing control in the process of vulnerability rather than the obedience itself. I had to speak truth to myself about this. It is sin. I am calling it what it is. When we know to do good, and we don’t do it, it is flat out sin. I hope that you have enjoyed our episode of Hearing from God in the midst of Chaos. God bless, and until next time.
It’s hard to trust. It doesn’t matter whether it is in marriages, friendships, or in our relationship with God. The difference is that with God is that he will never let us down. Either our answer will be something that is or isn’t in his will. He is our constant!
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
question
that a person may ask is, “ how do I define trust? “
in who God is.
.
God, people are imperfect. And so are we. They will disappoint us and we will disappoint them.
.
relationship, trust can never be established until the person who is toxic goes under a major heart and life change.
is equated to abuse.
.
means peace 
goes, “ On Christ the solid rock 
I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
