Are we trusting God in making decisions? Do we need to trust in Him for the small decisions as well as the big ones? How do we trust God in the hard times?
The root of all those questions is knowing God has a plan for each of us and that we need to trust Him.
The most quoted verse for God's Plan is this: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Knowing that God has a plan is comforting. When there isn’t an answer or we are struggling through difficult times, we question whether He is still working on the plan. I know this all too well.
There are times when I decided to go with my plan instead of waiting on God to hear from Him about His plan.
A few years back I decided to go back to school. I weighed all the options and prayed for direction. But in needing to make a decision for enrollment, God seemed silent. So I went forward with my decision to go to graduate school.
In looking back, I am not sure that was the right decision. Although I did get a change in job title, which was half of what I was looking for, it wasn’t in the area that I wanted. I think God allowed me to make that decision, even if it was the wrong one so that I could learn a lesson about trusting Him, instead of myself. I needed to quit trusting that my ways were better than God’s. My husband, Dave said this in our connection group for church this morning, “We try to fit God into our plans instead of us fitting into His plans.”
Gulp! When it came down to it, I wasn’t really wasn’t trusting Him and I was trying to fit God into my plan.
Do we need to trust God in the small decisions?
What type of decision do we need to trust God for? The small decisions, the big decisions, or both? Do we need His help in determining the answer?
We should trust God for everything, whether big or small things. Meaning, that we trust Him to provide things for us, like food, clothing, and a place to live. Some of these things, like what we should eat or wear the next day, are things we don’t need God’s help in answering.
Clothes?
I used to look in the closet and say out loud, “What should I wear?”
Dave would respond, “Clothes.” I imagine God would say the same thing. 🙂
It may be good to think about whether your clothing could cause a brother/sister to stumble in their faith. For example, wearing a low-cut shirt that shows cleavage may cause a Christian brother to think impure thoughts. We shouldn’t do anything that will cause another brother or sister to stumble (Rom 14:21 ESV). Other than that, God doesn’t likely care what you wear.
Food?
And food, he’d likely say it doesn’t matter either. The things to consider are overeating, starving yourself, or eating something that will cause another brother/sister to stumble (1 Cor 8:1-13 ESV). Other than that, the answer is likely, “Food.”
Housing?
For the place to live, God probably doesn’t care what type of house or apartment we live in as long as it is within our means of income and our motive for living there. Do we want to live in that house because it will show that we are better than others? We should check our attitude behind it to ensure we aren’t striving for something to show off. And we’d want to ensure that we can still afford it and not go into a huge debt that we can’t pay off.
Whether we live close to work or school, or far away from work or school, is not likely a huge concern for God either. These are more logistical needs to be determined based on if you want to live in a certain school district or not. Or something to be considered is if you prefer the countryside and don’t mind driving to get to many places to do something outside of your area.
Should we consider where we live to minister to others about Him? This may be an area to pray more about depending on your situation. Are you considering working or volunteering in a specific ministry? That may help you determine which neighborhoods to choose to live in. Wherever you move, there are people there who need to hear the gospel. When you are willing to share about Him, God will use you wherever you end up being planted.
Trusting God is a Choice
When it comes to trusting God in decision-making, we have a choice to make. Are we going to trust Him or not?
One of my favorite verses gives us some insight on this.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Trusting God in your decisions with your whole heart
We need to trust Him with our whole hearts. Not half-hearted.
I remember when I was in the band during my school-age years. The band director would tell us to play from the heart and to ‘give it all you got.’ When you put the feeling into it, the music tells the story to the listener and they can hear it from your heart.
Matthew 6:21 says, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When God is who we treasure the most, we trust Him with our WHOLE hearts.
Trusting in His Understanding, not Ours
We also need to lean on His understanding and not our own. Remember what I said about staying to His plan and not my own? I was definitely leaning on my understanding, not His.
When we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will make our paths straight. Learning from how God has taken care of you and led you on a straight path will help you make better decisions. Or that 20-20 vision kicks in when you realize a specific decision wasn’t the best choice.
What does the Bible say about Trusting God in the hard times?
When we have made a decision and took a wrong turn or life just happens (a pandemic?), then we should turn to God and trust Him.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:9-10 ESV
The Lord is a stronghold for us. A stronghold is a place of protection and where we can seek shelter in an attack. He protects us in that safe place.
Depending on what the hard time is, we may need to pray specifically about our basic needs of food, clothing, and a place to live. Those things may be at risk due to the circumstance.
Those of us who know His name will trust in Him despite the trial. We know this because He has shown us to be reliable. He has been there for us before and will be there for us again.
When we are trusting God in making decisions, there are some decisions that we can make on our own. There are other decisions that we need to think about and how they will affect others. Whether we are in times of making a hard decision or a simple decision, we need to trust in God. He is the one we need to acknowledge in all we do. Then we will have fewer bumps and scrapes from falling and our paths will be straight!
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Reflection Thoughts:
- Are you trusting God in the small decisions? Why or why not? Pray about how you can trust Him more for even the small things.
- What about the big decisions – are you trusting God for these? Why or why not? Pray specifically what you need. Pray about how you can trust Him in this situation. He is there to listen and He will hold you closely as you pour out your heart to Him.
- How has He shown you that He is faithful? Thank Him for those times. God has given you many blessings! List them and name them one by one.
Resource Library
Check out the Resource Library for free resources! There are Bible Verse
cards that you can download and print for you to keep them in the forefront of your mind. Put them up on your mirror, and memorize one a week or month. In order to save space on the verse cards, the verses are abbreviated. So if you want to memorize the longer version, go for it! There are also a couple of cute bookmarks as well for printing.
Let me know what you think of these resources. If you have other ideas or resources you’d like, please email me and let me know.
