Trust

God's been speaking to me mightily in the past few weeks. As I've stumbled through my own frustrations with friends and family, and have grown increasingly more excited and nervous about my pending job search and my future in general, I've found myself missing the point, and He's led me back to some key foundations of my Faith through church, comments from friends, others' blogs, music on the radio, and my personal time with Him.

So many of my concerns are inter-related, and God's relayed the following message to me through a variety of means:

I need to trust in God in everything. My job search, my relationships, my future - it all needs to be in His hands. God has promised that He will take care of me, and that if I seek His will for my life, I'm bound to be successful and happy. God has a perfect plan for my life, and He will reveal it to me piece by piece as I seek Him, but He's not about to give me a completely detailed map with every pit stop identified. As my best friend put it (paraphrased), "When you're driving across the country from South Carolina to Colorado, you wouldn't tell them every road to take all at once. Instead, you tell them as they go, or else they'll be overwhelmed and will forget. The most important thing is knowing your destination - He'll provide the details along the way."

I need to quit looking for signs that the next step I take is the right one. Instead, I need to ask that He'll guide my feet as I walk - and I need to start stepping. One foot in front of the other, trusting Him to provide the next step, but not waiting for Him to nudge me in one direction or the other.

Through many means, God provided me with the message of trust in the past few weeks. The most poignant, however, was through my pastor's discussion of a Biblical story of one of Jesus' many miracles. In John 6, Jesus fed thousands of people using five loaves and two fish, and ended the meal with twelve baskets of leftover food. After performing such an incredible miracle, He left the scene, only to be followed by many of those at the meal. They questioned Him, and asked how they could do God's will - He told them God's will was that they believe in Jesus as the Christ - the Son of God. They're response? "What miracle will you provide to assure us that you are who you claim?"

This story really resonated with me. God has provided me with countless signs in my life that He is in control, and yet I'm still begging Him for signs that I can trust Him in every decision I make. All too quickly, I forget the signs He's already provided for me, and I expect more from Him. Part of His will for my life is that I trust in Him fully.

TRUST.

It's so hard to do, yet such a relief when done.

Lord, please give me peace as I place my life in Your hands. Help me to give You everything, and to fully place my trust in you.

~Justin