Will God Help Me?

By Jon Walker

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27 NIV)

You learn to trust God by obeying him in small ways.

At this point in your faith-walk, you probably agree that God is the supreme ruler of the universe, powerful enough to overcome any problem or defeat any enemy. "Everything comes from him; everything happens through him; everything ends up in him." (Romans 11:36 MSG)

And if that is true, then our struggle to take a step of faith is not over the issue of whether or not God can deliver – he clearly can do that.

The real the question is: Can we trust God to be sensitive to our needs (or what we perceive to be our needs)?

Perhaps the resistance you and I exhibit when we’re faced with a faith-step is because we seriously doubt God will look out for our best interests – “Yes, I believe God can work this out, but will he?”

And this often lapses into the speech of behavior that says, “I know I can work this out, but I’m not sure God will – at least I’m not sure he will do it the way I want to see it done.”

The incredible thing is this: God patiently understands your hesitancy, so he made the first move toward establishing a loving, trusting relationship with you. He didn't wait until you could be trusted to receive his love, and he doesn’t insist you become trustworthy before he trusts you with precious gifts. (Romans 5:6-8)

This means that by taking small steps of faith, obeying God in small ways, “We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand – out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.” (Romans 5:2 MSG)

So what?

· God is trustworthy in everything (Psalm 33:4) – He is love (1 John 4:16b), and therefore patient and kind; he's never rude or self-seeking; he's not easily angered, and he keeps no record of wrongs; he does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth; he always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres; he never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) He is always fair (Deuteronomy 32:4), and he’s never failed to fulfill one of his promises. (Joshua 21:45)

· Meditate on God’s faithfulness – When you struggle to trust God, meditate upon his faithfulness and love. Remember that, for now, we "know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled." (1 Corinthians 13:9-10, MSG) "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way." (Proverbs 3:5-6) God is calling you to grow up in your faith and to trust steadily in him. (1 Corinthians 13:11-13, MSG)

· Take your fears (lack of trust) to him – God's perfect love casts out all fear, and that means you can safely tell him about your doubts and fears. He isn't angry when you struggle with your faith. Imagine a father watching his child take those first baby steps. Like a father overjoyed that his child is learning to walk, your Heavenly Father encourages you to take small steps of obedience.

Taken from Purpose Driven Life dated 4 June 2007.