I’ve talked a lot about trusting in the Lord. Today, I want to talk about another part of trusting in the Lord-waiting on the Lord. In my experience of trusting in the Lord the process goes something like this:
- You have something you need to trust God about. It could be as simple as asking him where you put your sunglasses or as big as buying a house and beyond.
- You throw the situation on God’s shoulders (1 Peter 5:7). And leave it there. Leave. It.
- You ask the Lord about the situation. I will often ask him, “Lord, what is your word on this?” And I leave it with him. I then go about my business. Don’t worry, when you ask God something, he will get the answer to you. This is where it is helpful to put God’s word in your heart so he can easily tell you what you need to know. God doesn’t always give me a word directly from the Bible, but the Bible can always back it up. Whether you are a scripture newbie or have memorized the whole thing, God will get your answer to you!
- Once you have God’s word on the situation, you’re all set! You know his will, and you can remind yourself and the devil what God said about your situation every time you are tempted to think the opposite.
- Praising God before you see your answer is also a must. This helps build your faith. It shows that you are so confident the Lord is working the situation out for you.
- When you are doing steps 4 and 5 of the trust walk, congratulations! You have entered the next step, waiting on the Lord.
This period of waiting doesn’t seem that glamorous. However, it is one of the most crucial steps to actually seeing God work the situation out for you.
It’s great to get a word from the Lord about your situation, but if you allow fear and doubt to win the battle, the word goes dormant. Just because someone got a word from the Lord doesn’t necessarily mean it has to happen.
During this waiting period is when you get to exercise your faith. Little by little you are building your spiritual muscles. You are taking control of your thought life. Not allowing any fear or doubt thoughts to take a place in your mind. You are replacing those enemy thoughts with the word you got from the Lord. You are praising him and thanking him for what he is doing for you.
You are remembering how God has come through for you in the past. You are creating a history with him. A history that cannot be shaken. It is best to start this with smaller situations so if a big situation arises you know what to do. You have already proven your spiritual weapons and you know with whom you are going into battle, the One who never loses!
Is Trusting In The Lord Hard To Do?
You might be thinking it’s hard to trust in the Lord. I haven’t successfully trusted in him for something before. Don’t despair, the Holy Spirit is the best teacher and coach and will never let you down. It’s never to late to get started on this journey of trusting in the Lord.
One thing to know about the devil is he works hard at getting us to stop trusting in the Lord. He knows how powerful it is and how unstoppable we are when we do. The devil is good at preying upon our insecurities and throwing up our failures in our faces. Don’t be shocked or alarmed when this happens. It’s the devil trying his old antics because he’s afraid of you. Just know that the opposite of what he says is true.
“You Passed, With Flying Colors!”
When I was in school to become a teacher, the first program I was in didn’t work out for me. As I was going through the second program, it seemed the devil was often right there to try to get me to doubt myself. Think of Peter when he went to Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:25-31). He had a choice to focus on Jesus or to focus on the waves around him. We all have this choice. We will always have this choice when we set out to do awesome things.
The doubt in my mind got so bad that I ended up crying in my professor’s office after a class. I persevered and didn’t let doubt get the better of me. I followed the 6 steps of trusting in the Lord. As it was my turn during the hooding ceremony on graduation day, my professor said, “You passed, with flying colors.”
All this time I have been building a history with him. I can confidently say, the Lord always works everything out for me!” And, I often do and he always does! He will for you, too, just trust him.
So you’ve been trusting in and waiting on the Lord (remember the 6 steps) for a while. Guess what? Your spiritual muscles are huge! You buff thing you! Your faith muscle won’t quit. Bonus: your faith pleases God. He’s impressed! Check you out!
Repeat steps 4-6 as necessary, and you are on your way! Don’t stop! Don’t quit! All of God’s promises are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20)! He’s promised you amazing things!
When you see God work out the situation for you some things will happen. You will have moved to a whole new level of trusting in the lord. Your joy level will be intense. You might even find yourself getting a bit radical and even telling people around you what God did for you.
Since you won’t still trust him about that particular situation, you will want to trust him for something else. It’s like when you finish one project and you enjoy the benefits of it, but you want to move on to another project. I heard a preacher once say to always have a faith project.
Last year, I had the opportunity for my faith and level of trust in the Lord to grow. We were going through a bit of a struggle financially. My husband and I followed the steps of trusting in the Lord. God always worked everything out for us. He never let us down.
This year, I was able to trust in the Lord further as my husband and I were on the roller coaster that was the purchase of our house. I am writing this in our new home.
There have been so many times too numerous to mention where God has worked the situation out for me. This process works in every area of life including relationships, finances, and health.
Did you know trusting in the Lord is actually exercising your faith in him? By doing this you are pleasing him (Hebrews 11:6). Wow! A win-win situation! He loves it when we have the audacity to believe what he told us.
Please note that trusting in the Lord and waiting on him is not using a blind faith. You may not be able to physically see the outcome when you start out, but God does. It’s like the passengers on a bus don’t see their final destination at the beginning, but they trust the bus driver to take them where they need to go.
The Lord has set up this business of waiting on him to empower you. To prepare you. To strengthen you. I’m not talking about waiting for 20 years or something ridiculous like that. I don’t believe God plays around with us to see how long we will wait to give him glory.
Waiting on the Lord is not a passive thing. It is an action. Waiting on the Lord builds up your strength (Isaiah 40:31). In Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul urges believers to stand fully dressed in God’s armor. I believe the standing he is talking about is the waiting period before we see our answer.
Let your inner warrior out and answer the call of God to trust in him!
Hi, I just found your post. What a blessing.