“If you asked ten different Christians why they trust God,” Stan asked one morning, “how many different answers do you think you would get?”
“I don’t know,” I responded, “I suppose somewhere between zero and ten.”
“Are you always so wildly bold with your suppositions?” Stan asked with a smile.
“Okay,” I said, “Let me have a try. First, I would guess that people trust God because they think that is what they are supposed to do. Then, maybe, they trust God because they think He will bless them.”
“You mean like give them stuff?” Stan asked.
“Yeah, stuff and other things they might pray about, such as healing, safety, or such things.”
“Then,” I continued, “people could trust God because they think that if they don’t trust Him He is going to get mad at them.”
“Or, maybe,”I added, “people trust Him because He is trustworthy.”
“How about,” Stan replied, “trusting God because it’s a blessing to do so, whether or not the person gets anything more from God?”
“Trusting God because it’s a blessing to trust God?” I replied. “That’s kind of circular isn’t it? Where did you get that?”
“From a really wise person who wrote that in Proverbs,” Stan said. “He wrote that blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord.”
“What kind of blessing do you think is included?” I asked.
“To start with” Stan replied, “there’s the blessing of life eternally with God when my time here is finished. I can’t imagine a greater blessing than being saved by grace through faith in God’s provision.”
“Then, of course,” he continued, “there’s the blessings of being allowed to know God the Father and Jesus the Son more intimately in a personal relationship while I’m kept on this side of eternity.”
“A fabulous blessing,” I commented, “available merely by pursuing the eternal life of knowing God the Father and Jesus.”
“Is there a greater blessing on this side of eternity?” Stan asked. “A greater blessing than knowing God?”
“Doesn’t seem like it,” I responded. “Nothing else required!”
“But there is so much more,” Stan said.
“What so much more?” I asked.
“Whatever God wants to provide,” Stan replied. “As I trust Him, He blesses me with whatever He wants. I am a blessed person just by being allowed to trust God.”
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Bible verses to consider:
. . . blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. Proverbs 16:20.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 2:12.
O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for blessing me by the fact I am allowed to trust in you. Thank you for the blessing of being able to look forward to spending eternity with you when it’s time because I have accepted your free and gracious provision by faith. Thank you, too, for the opportunity to know you and Jesus ever more deeply on this side of eternity. The blessing of being able to have a faith walk with you is so far beyond what I deserve. I confess that too often I have the view of trusting in you in order so that I will be blessed Please forgive me for that self-focused view of you and your provision. Please, Father, help me in following every step of your lead into an ever-deepening relationship that is a blessing all by itself. Help me to seek you and you alone, without wanting anything other than what you have for me. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: To trust in God is a blessing all by itself. Do you agree with that? Why or why not? Have you accepted the blessing of being able to spend eternity in God’s presence when it is time? If no, why? Do you know it’s a free and gracious gift that only needs to be accepted by faith? Do you tend to trust in God so that you will be blessed. If so, why? Do you believe that all you have already received from God is a blessing that needs nothing else? Why or why not? How are you doing in pursuing the blessing of being able to know God the Father and Jesus the Son in an ever-deepening personal relationship? If not as well as you would like, how can that change?
Waiting for the Train 